The Adventures of Bonnie
by Azulao
Summary: Two years have passed since Bonnie and Clemont returned to Lumiose City. Two very long years for Bonnie, who dreams of finally being a real Pokemon trainer. Today, she is turning 10... This is my personal account of what challenges Bonnie will face on her own journey, which friends she will meet, and what dreams she will pursue.
1. A new beginning

**A new beginning**

"Give it to me!"

The voice was quite loud, and the blond boy, who had been until now sound asleep in his bedroom, could not quite ignore it.

"Hmm?"

"Wake up big brother, and give it to me!"

The voice was quite insistent, and the boy concluded with a sigh that it was time to start the day.

"And good morning to you too, Bonnie," he said with a yawn. "What can I do for you on this fine d… whoof!"

A perfectly thrown pillow cut him off momentarily.

"Get up," ordered the blond girl identified as Bonnie. Cute, with long twisted hair and blue eyes, she bore a strong resemblance to the blond boy. Except she was obviously wide awake and ready for the day. The boy noted that she was wearing a new outfit, probably a birthday present from their father: green sneakers, black capri pants, a brown and white tunic, and a dark green shoulder bag. A mousy pokemon with a long tail perched on her shoulder, and it seemed quite insistent too.

"Fine," said the boy with a smile. "Here it is. Catch!"

From under his pillow, he retrieved the pokeball he had hidden there the night before, and threw it at his sister. She caught it reflexively, then beamed, and the boy's smile grew in return.

"Happy birthday Bonnie. So how does it feel to be ten years old?"

"Thank you Clemont! It's great to be ten! I've been waiting sooo long, I thought this day would never come. Ever since we came back from our last journey together I've been learning and training and I'm sooo ready to start my own trip with my own pokemon. You're ready too, Dedenne, aren't you?"

The little pokemon on her shoulder emphatically agreed with a happy cry of its own: "Dedenne!"

"I still don't really know why you were so intent on having Dedenne's pokeball though," their father said as he emerged from the kitchen. "I don't think I've ever seen him return to it."

"It's the principle of the thing Dad," Bonnie replied. "Now Dedenne REALLY is my partner."

Meyer shrugged.

"If it makes you feel better, then I guess it's fine. So, did you decide which pokemon you will choose at Professor Sycamore's lab?" He asked. "You have been very quiet about that."

Clemont, just coming out of his room, waited with interest for Bonnie's answer. He had not been able to get his normally talkative sister to even breach the subject either, and he was quite curious.

"Well," she said, flopping down at the breakfast table and starting on the pancakes Meyer had prepared as a special treat, "I thought about it quite a lot. I mean, chespin, fennekin and froakie are all super cute, so from the beginning I thought it would be very hard to choose. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like I knew them too well already. I mean, I play with your chespin every day, and whenever I think of fennekin and froakie I remember Serena and Ash and all the fun we used to have. And that's fine, as far as it goes. But I don't want my trip to be a repeat of our previous one. I want to start something new. So I've decided to not ask Professor Sycamore for a starter pokemon. I'll catch new friends along the way, I'm sure. Anyway, I already have a partner, my dedenne. So there!"

"Ah, too bad," their father replied with a smile. "Professor Sycamore and I had a side bet on which starter you would choose. Now we've both lost."

"Oh," said Bonnie. "And which did you say?"

"Well, Professor Sycamore had you down for a chespin, like your brother, and I said no way. Me, I thought you'd get a fennekin, like your friend Serena. Plus, with your character, a fire pokemon would suit you well!"

His daughter glowered at him as the joke registered. But then she turned to Clemont.

"What about you, big brother?"

"Oh, I know you never do anything like everyone else, so I was pretty sure you wouldn't go for any of the starters. It's not like it's mandatory anyway. Still, I agree with Dad, you should definitely get a fire pokemon at some point!"

Bonnie ignored the last barb and smiled at him.

"See," she said to their father, "My big brother knows me better than anyone!"

"Of that I have no doubt. So, young lady, where do you want to go? Not that I'm very happy to see you trailing off on your own, but I know a losing battle when I see one."

"I hope I'll meet many new friends, so I won't be alone all the time Dad, I'm sure. But as to where… well, I'm not sure yet," Bonnie admitted sheepishly.

"Don't you want to enter the Kalos league?" Clemont asked, surprised. "I always thought you would follow in Ash's footsteps. I think you'd be better suited for pokemon battles than pokemon performances. Though that's your choice obviously."

"I don't know, ok?" Bonnie replied, frustrated.

"Well, there is no rule that says you have to have a plan before you start," Meyer pointed out.

"Yeah, look at Serena, she did not know what she wanted at the beginning, and see where she is now!"

The siblings exchanged pleasured smiles while thinking about their old friend. Her journey to Hoenn had been an extended one, but she had been back for some time now. Clemont and Bonnie had welcomed her at the airport, and the reunion had been full of laughter and new stories.

Serena had many adventures in Hoenn, and gained a lot of experience. She had participated in several contests and found them close enough to her beloved showcases that she had a lot of fun with them. After one or two false starts, due to a flawed understanding of all the differences between contests and showcases, she had done well. Very well, indeed. Having arrived in Hoenn just before a Grand Festival, she had not had time to gain any ribbons before, but she was in the public during the contest, and it gave her the motivation to be in the next one. Which she had, winning her five ribbons with time to spare. And much to her surprise, winning the Grand Festival as well!

She had kept her friends in Kalos updated of course, and even done some more Pokevision videos, in answer to all the people who had watched her in the Master Class and who wanted to know how she was doing. But Bonnie and Clemont did not have all the stories, and Serena wound up spending several days in Lumiose City, just spending time with her friends. Her pokemon were happy to reunite with Clemont's pokemon as well. Pancham and Chespin got into a few fights for old times' sake, and Bunnelby and Sylveon danced together. Serena's braixen had finally refused to evolve into a delphox for some reason, so Serena had secured an everstone for her. Clemont suspected it had to do with the fact that Aria (and her own delphox) was still Kalos Queen, and Serena was not.

And there were a few new faces as well. Serena had caught a swablu in Hoenn and evolved it into a graceful altaria. According to her, her altaria had been quite instrumental in her victory at the Grand Festival. Bonnie had been quite excited about the fluffy blue bird, and it was a good thing that Altaria was not the least bit shy, the way she had run to her for a good hug! And Clemont had found a stray elektrike wandering in the street not far from the Prism Tower. He could not leave the electric pokemon, which seemed distinctly undernourished, alone, and Elektrike had found a place at the Lumiose gym. She was now a happy puppy, and Clemont dreamed of evolving her and exploring mega-evolution with her.

Serena had been gone for a few weeks now. She had decided to finally accept Palermo's offer to act as her mentor, at least until the next Master Class. She very much wanted a rematch with Aria! Being Hoenn's Top Coordinator had been a great surprise and a source of deep satisfaction, but her first love was still showcases. And, Bonnie thought with a smirk but did not say, given how thick her brother still was in some ways, Serena's return to Kalos has nothing at all to do with the fact that ASH will be back in Kalos in a few months, no no no… In some ways, Serena was still entirely predictable. Well, Bonnie amended, IF he returns this time. You never knew with Ash.

"Anyway," Clemont was continuing, "Just take your time, and you will find what you want to do."

"You know," their father said, "I was teasing you earlier with the fire pokemon, but you could go to the Fireworks. That's next week in Santalune, this year, and I know you really liked it the last time."

"Hey," Bonnie said, perking right up, "That's a great idea! I should have thought of that myself. Thanks Dad!"

The Kalos Fireworks were a very popular yearly event where fire pokemon put on spectacular performances. The displays took place in the evening, shortly after dark, and the entire area was only illuminated by the fire pokemon themselves, to enhance the atmosphere. The Fireworks were organized every year in a different city in Kalos, and had taken place in Lumiose City the previous year, much to Bonnie's delight.

"It's decided then, we'll set out for Santalune today. What do you think Dedenne? It will be fun, won't it?"

"De-dedenne!" squeaked the pokemon happily.

 _END OF CHAPTER 1_

 _This is my first try at publishing stories, so we will see how it goes. I am planning on doing an extended story at this point, but I am not sure how often I will be able to publish new chapters. Bonnie is going to be the main character of the story, but she won't be the only one, and there will be many familiar characters as well. I still don't know where Bonnie will end up, she is a strong-willed girl and I am sure she will surprise me several times before the end._

 _Many thanks to my reviewers for taking the time to help me improve my writing!_


	2. Getting back on track

**Getting back on track**

"I slept like a log. What about you, Dedenne?"

"Dedenne!" The rodent answered, scrambling on his owner's knees to take up his place on her bag.

On, and not in. Dedenne had wanted to travel in Bonnie's bag this time also, but as she explained to him:

"We don't have my big brother to carry all my stuff for me this time, so I'm afraid there will be no place for you inside the bag. But don't worry, there is more than enough place on top, and it will be very comfy as well."

The two had left Lumiose City the previous morning, and Bonnie, walking briskly, had put quite a few kilometres behind her on that first day. While she was not accustomed to walking long hours anymore, her enthusiasm had carried her on that first leg of the journey, and she had reached a pokemon centre in the evening, where she had spent the night. She was now rather regretting that enthusiasm: her leg muscles were so stiff that she feared she would not be able to move at all today!

"So how are you this morning?" Nurse Joy asked, as Bonnie sat at a table outside of the centre, nursing a cup of hot chocolate – curtesy of Wigglytuff, who seemed to think it was as much his job to take care of the trainers than of the pokemon.

"A bit sore," Bonnie admitted with a wry smile. "I clearly overdid it yesterday! I had forgotten how painful walking could be when you're not used to it. I don't know if I'll be able to walk today, my legs are killing me!"

"That's too bad," Nurse Joy said, "This is such a fine day for travelling! I'll tell you what: I'm not very busy right now, so I'll mix some berries for you, as a muscle relaxant. It's actually a recipe for pokemon, and it works wonders on them, but I already tried it on several trainers as well and they all felt a lot better afterwards!"

"Oh, would you?" Bonnie asked, beaming. "That would be so nice! And if it's good enough for pokemon it's definitely good enough for me! We're not so different from pokemon ourselves, are we?"

Nurse Joy smiled at the remark from the exuberant blond girl. A nice child, she thought, but a little strange. The nurse went back inside to prepare the potion, while Bonnie relaxed in the sun and thought about all the things she could do on her journey. The thing was, while she was perfectly happy to finally be a pokemon trainer – and that was a serious understatement –, she was not sure what to do now. Travelling was a lot of fun, as she well knew, but Kalos held little mystery for her, and there was not the same flavour of discovery as the last time. But then, she thought, I wasn't a pokemon trainer either last time, so that part is going to be very different indeed! I wonder which pokemon I'll meet on my way? I'm sure there will be many cute ones!

Lost in her thoughts, she almost did not notice when a bowl appeared in front of her a moment later.

"Thank you so much Nurse Joy!" She exclaimed. "I hope I will be able to move better afterwards!"

Scooping up the bowl, she put a big spoonful of the potion in her mouth… and it took all her willpower to not spit it out immediately afterwards.

"Whoa, it's so bitter! Why didn't you warn me?"

Nurse Joy smiled.

"Well, it seems to work best when I put a lot of sitrus berries in it, I'm afraid, so there's no helping the taste. Now eat it up like a big girl."

The oblique suggestion that she could be anything other than a big girl did not sit well with Bonnie, and she saw no way out of gracefully giving in. She quickly gobbled down the rest of the potion, while her mousy friend laughed at the faces she was making.

"Dedenne, next time YOU don't feel well, I will have no pity at all," Bonnie warned, shaking her finger at the little pokemon.

But her bad mood did not last, as the realisation that the bitter potion really did work came upon her. Fifteen minutes later, the blond girl was stretching her legs with a big smile.

"Hey, you know, it was really worth it! Nurse Joy, would you give me the recipe for that bitter potion? It might come in handy later on."

"Of course, I will write it down Bonnie. Though I would advise you not to abuse your muscles too much in any case, the potion will only bring you so far," The red-haired nurse admonished. "And can you do me a favour as well?"

"I sure can, Nurse Joy! What is it?"

"I heard yesterday, when you were discussing your plans with the other trainers, that you were going to the Kalos Fireworks in Santalune, is that right?"

"Yes! I loved the Fireworks last year, so I'm really looking forward to this year's edition."

"In this case, can you bring some rawst berries to my cousin at the Santalune pokemon Centre? She has called me this morning and said she was afraid she would run out. They're great against burns, and with so many fire pokemon gathering for the Fireworks, she had to treat a lot of those already in the past few days."

"No problem at all, I'll do it!"

A few minutes later, potion recipe in her pocket and rawst berries in her bag, Bonnie was setting out for Santalune.

xxx

"You know Dedenne, I'm sure we have passed this big stump before, don't you think?"

"Dedenne?"

A few hours later, Bonnie was feeling quite discouraged again. The portion of the road she wanted to cover today had seemed straightforward enough on the map. Follow the road until the next village, then take left at the fork, cross the woods, and on the far side was the rest stop where she intended to spend the night. The first part had gone exactly as planned: her legs were all better, the weather was as nice as could be, and while they were in the village, a nice old lady with an emolga had even offered Dedenne a special poke puff for electric rodents, saying they were her favourite kind of pokemon.

But things had gotten more complicated after she entered the forest. It was kind of her fault too, concluded the blond girl with inner honesty. The road was making a big bend in the woods, and she had wanted to try a shortcut through the trees. It had seemed to work, too! There was a bit of a path, and she had been so sure that it had been created by other people who did not want to go the long way! But the path, if such it was, had totally disappeared a while back, and Bonnie had lost her bearings. The canopy was thick, and she was not even sure where the sun was.

Bonnie was not too worried yet: she had time before nightfall, and it was not as if it was the first time that she was lost in the woods, after all. It was, however, the first time that she was lost alone in the woods, except for her little friend, and she was discovering that it was quite a different proposition from being in a group. Still, she did not scare easily, and the day was still very nice.

"Let's rest for a bit Dedenne, what do you think? After all, if we stop, we won't be drifting further off path, at the very least. And I'll figure something out. Say, I'm getting hungry, do you want to eat something too?"

Her pokemon agreed happily, as usual when it came to food. He was a bit of a glutton, and it was a mystery how such a small body could consume so much food without exploding. Bonnie got out his special food, and the sandwiches she had packed before leaving the pokemon centre. She sat on the grass under a big tree, and sighed happily.

"This is a really nice spot," She commented. "If we didn't plan on reaching Santalune in two days, I would definitely be tempted to stay and explore the woods for a while. Look at all the wild pokemon!"

Indeed, the forest seemed to be teeming with life in this spot. Several fletchlings were singing in the trees, two zigzagoons were chasing each other in the grass, and a vivillon was floating gracefully in the wind. It was a colour she had not seen previously, mostly green with a little bit of red, and doing a pretty good job of blending in with its surroundings. Gazing up at the treetops, Bonnie also spotted some burmies and a weedle.

"What do you think Dedenne, should we try to catch anyone? They could be our new friends!"

There was no answer from the rodent, and, turning around, Bonnie saw that he was sound asleep on her bag. I guess catching pokemon will have to wait for later, she thought with a smile. But in truth, she was not disappointed, for all the pokemon around her seemed to belong here in this forest. I'll only catch pokemon that are interested in me and want to come with me and Dedenne, she resolved. Her eyelids were getting heavy, and she decided to rest for a few minutes before resuming her journey. Five minutes, she thought. Ten at the most… A moment later, both girl and pokemon were sound asleep under the big tree.

xxx

Sunlight on her face. Moss under her cheek. The smell of sun-warmed grass… As she woke up, Bonnie was feeling very comfortable, and it took her a while to remember where she was. As memory returned, though, she sat up with a start, and the two zigzagoons from earlier, which, driven by curiosity, had approached Dedenne and her during her sleep, took fright and disappeared in the next bushes. But Bonnie hardly noticed, for she was looking in consternation at the sun. The low sun, whose rays were now reaching her almost horizontally.

"Oh no Dedenne, I slept most of the afternoon away! I should have set up the alarm clock that Clemont gave me before falling asleep! Now there is no way that we can reach the rest stop before dark, and I still don't know where we are!"

The blond girl berated herself for a few more minutes, while Dedenne, who paid no attention to her antics, was looking interestedly at some berries in a nearby tree. But, Bonnie being Bonnie, she did not let this set back annoy her for long.

"Oh well, if we don't make it to the rest stop, we don't, it's ok. It's not like I hadn't planned on doing some camping anyway, I just thought I'd give it a few more days before camping on my own. But I'd still like to know where we are. We can't be that far from the road, really, unless I walked even more in circles than I thought."

She eyed up the big tree under which she had slept so well and so long. It was quite a bit bigger than the trees surrounding it, and seemed easily climbable, if she could reach the first branches. I bet I could see where I need to go from up there, she reflected. Action directly followed thought. It was a bit touch and go at the beginning, and Bonnie wished her brother was there to give her a lift. But the going got easier afterwards, and before long, she was at treetop level, gazing over the sea of lesser trees at her feet.

"Let's see if we can spot the road," she told her furry little friend, who had followed her on top, and actually preceded her for most of the climb.

The road was easy enough to find, but it clearly was not where she had expected to see it, and Bonnie pursed her lips at this confirmation that she had indeed drifted more off course than she wanted. But it would not take more than an hour to get back on track, provided she did not get lost a second time. And somewhat up the road, she could see a little river weaving its way through the trees. A good spot to stop for the night, she decided. And she still had about two hours of light, so it looked like it would work. She scrambled down the tree with more haste than caution and scooped up her bag.

"Okay let's go Dedenne, we've tarried long enough as it is! You know, this travelling business is a lot harder than I remember. I wonder if it's because I'm not used to it anymore, or because I don't have my big brother or my friends to help me out this time?"

Half walking and half running, she disappeared through the trees. Only the imprint of her body on the cool moss remained.


	3. Fireworks and fire dance

**Fireworks and fire dance**

The tent looked lonely, Bonnie decided as she was coming back from the river, where she had gone to fill her pan and her water bottle. It was cheery enough by itself, the same ultra-lightweight tent with a shellder design that she had shared with Serena on that other, long ago trip. But it seemed a very small refuge, here in the forest under those big trees. The blond girl shook her head to clear her mind from those gloomy thoughts. So she was travelling alone, true, but it was not really unexpected in the beginning. And if she wanted to find travelling companions, there would certainly be enough people gathered for the Fireworks in Santalune.

"So, Dedenne, let's make dinner, shall we?" She said to her little companion in a bright voice.

"Dedenne!"

As usual, the mouse pokemon showed his enthusiasm to the idea, and Bonnie got to work. Dedenne's dinner was easy, she still had plenty of his favourite pokemon food. Her own, well… she got the mini gas stove going with some trepidation – she had practiced beforehand, but she still did not like the "whoosh" it made upon starting – and got the water to boil in her pan, before throwing some instant noodles in the water. I'm going to miss my brother's cooking, she thought. But at least the noodles were warm and filling, and she planned on eating at pokemon centres or on the road as much as possible.

The night had fallen while she was cooking and eating, and the world had become quite still. Bonnie was feeling peaceful after dinner, as she stretched out on the grass before her tent. In the sky, the first stars were starting to appear, and as she gazed at them, she remembered warmly a long-ago night of shooting stars and wishes with her friends. There was no shooting star tonight, it was the wrong season for them, but Bonnie still kind of hoped she could see just one right then. It would have been fitting. And in her heart, the wish rose unbidden, shooting star or not: I wish to find my dream. The stars twinkled but did not answer, and after a while, Bonnie rose, got ready for bed, and crawled inside her little tent, where she was asleep in seconds, despite the afternoon nap. The day had been full of emotions.

xxx

Some undetermined time later, Bonnie woke up for no reason that she could discern. Certainly the world outside her tent was still dark and quiet. At her side, Dedenne slumbered on, uncaring. What could it have been, she wondered? Wide-awake now, she decided that she would have a look outside. Carefully getting out of her sleeping bag without waking Dedenne, Bonnie gathered her shoes and got out. The night was clear, and the half-moon was giving out enough light that she could see her surroundings, all bathed in that weird black-and-white feeling that moonlight often gave. The position of the moon showed that there were still several hours of darkness left before sunrise, and Bonnie wondered again why she had woken up. As far as she could see, nothing seemed amiss.

"Whoosh!"

The sound was almost more felt than heard, and it came from somewhere on her left. It reminded her of the sound her stove made, yet there was a different quality to it. Bonnie dithered for a few seconds, but as she heard the whooshing sound again, caution lost the battle, and, curiosity now fully awakened, she decided to investigate.

She did not have very far to go. On the riverbank, upstream of where she had gone for water in the evening, and on the opposite side from her, was a small pokemon.

In the night, and half-hidden in shadows, it was difficult to identify. It stood on four legs, had a stocky outline, and was moving somewhat clumsily. A dog pokemon maybe? The pokemon emitted a low growl, then the whooshing sound could be heard again, and a little flame appeared in front of it before getting snuffed out by the light night breeze. So a fire pokemon, certainly. But which one, and what was it doing? As Bonnie watched from her side of the river, the creature advanced into a patch of moonlight. Now, she could see many more details, and the puzzle resolved itself into a pokemon that the blond girl knew, and had personally encountered some years ago: a litleo. But what was a lion pokemon from the grasslands doing in these woods? Again, the whooshing sound was heard and a flame trembled in front of the litleo for a few seconds.

"I wonder if it's trying to practice a new move," Bonnie murmured. "Maybe it's going to the Fireworks as well? Maybe it's famous among pokemon too!"

Excited, the girl stood up and advanced towards the litleo.

"Hello Litleo!" She waved cheerily.

The pokemon visibly startled, and spitted more flames in her direction. This time, the flames were much bigger, crossing the little river without effort. Bonnie recognised the move ember, but there was a peculiarly rounded quality to the flames. She darted to one side to avoid being singed.

"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she said. "I don't mean you any harm. Hey, come back!"

But the litleo had already disappeared in the darkness.

"Well, that could have gone better," Bonnie sighed. "Maybe my big brother is right, and I should think before acting sometimes. I didn't think I would frighten it though, I just wanted to say hi!"

The girl slowly came back to her tent, where Dedenne was still sleeping like a log, but sleep was a long time in coming this time.

xxx

"Well Dedenne, there we are!" Bonnie exclaimed, stopping to catch her breath. "Right on time too!"

To make up for the lost afternoon, Bonnie had been walking as fast as she could the past two days, only stopping for a quick lunch and again for the night in a pokemon centre. The Kalos Fireworks only lasted a single day – and night, of course – and she had been loath to miss even a single part. But she was right on time, for the official start would be at noon, and she had just arrived in Santalune.

"Now, where was that Santalune pokemon centre again? I forgot." She mumbled, looking around. "I know there is this big fountain and it's somewhere on the right…"

"You seem a bit lost", said a voice behind her. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for the pokemon centre," Bonnie replied, turning around. "Alexa?"

"Hmm, do I know you?" Asked the good-looking brunette with a helioptile on her shoulder.

She seemed confused.

"Well..." Bonnie started, only to be interrupted by Dedenne.

"De-dedenne!" squeaked the electric rodent excitedly

He jumped down to greet Helioptile, who had scrambled down Alexa's back, and sparks flew as the two electric pokemon renewed their acquaintance.

"Oh,", Alexa said in a tone of recognition. "That blond hair, a dedenne… You're Bonnie right? Clemont's sister? My, but you've grown!"

"Well," Bonnie grinned, "It must have been about eighteen months since we last saw each other I think."

"Most probably", Alexa agreed. "I have rarely been to Lumiose City these past two years, and then mostly to see Professor Sycamore. I did call on your father once last year, but I did not see you. I was kept pretty busy doing that series on mega-evolution, and I travelled several times to Hoenn to visit Steven and his metagross. Are you already old enough to be a trainer? Time flies!"

"I certainly am!" Bonnie said proudly.

"Are you going to challenge my sister like Ash then?" Alexa asked.

"I'm nowhere good enough to defeat Viola yet!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Your sister is really good. Even Ash didn't win the first time he battled her, and I know she has gotten even better since then! I was there when the Kalos gym leaders had this informal tournament last year and her surskit evolved. She really trounced my brother even with the type disadvantage, and she would have won the whole thing if Wulfric and his avalugg hadn't come up with that combo move."

The blond girl smiled carelessly.

"Besides, I'm not sure yet I want to try for the Kalos league. I need to think it over, first."

"Nothing wrong with that," Alexa replied. "Sometimes it takes time to discover what you want to do. So, you are here for the Fireworks, I guess?" At Bonnie's nod, the reporter continued: "Would you like to come with me then and have a peek backstage? I will be doing some interviews of the trainers who participate in the shows."

"I'd love to!" Bonnie answered with enthusiasm. "But I really need to go to the pokemon centre first."

"That's fine, you can meet me at the north entrance in an hour. Then you'll fill me in on what our mutual friends have been up to while I was gone. I heard quite a lot about Serena while in Hoenn, but I don't really know about the rest of the bunch! Oh, and the pokemon centre is this way, to answer your first question."

"Thank you, Alexa!" Bonnie replied, departing at a run.

xxx

Bonnie flopped down with a weary sigh. The day had been very interesting so far, but she was in dire need of some down time. She had first run all the way to the pokemon centre to deliver the rawst berries. Nurse Joy had been delighted, as she had totally run out the night before and had had to use alternative treatments ever since. The nurse had given Bonnie three of the berries in thanks for the service, and even though the centre was full of trainers, she had guaranteed her a place for the night. Then Bonnie had run to the other side of Santalune to meet Alexa on time. The opportunity to see the backstage of the Fireworks, with all the rehearsals, and to listen in on trainers' interviews did not come every day, and she had not wanted to miss one second! And it had been fascinating too. Never had she realised the sheer diversity of fire pokemons and moves, and all the training that went into making the Fireworks such works of art! Maybe her father and brother had something when they suggested that she get a fire pokemon someday…

But Alexa was indefatigable, and for all her enthusiasm, Bonnie had woken up early and walked hard to arrive in Santalune on time. She was currently resting in a quiet area while keeping an eye on Helioptile, who was recharging Alexa's equipment. Alexa herself had gone off with a trainer who had offered to help her teach her gogoat sunny day. The journalist was quite keen on Gogoat learning the move, since it could enhance the lighting of the environment tremendously and would be very useful for her next videos.

"Hey, you, get out of here, you're not part of the show!"

The angry voice startled Bonnie out of her daydreams. The man it belonged to looked disgruntledly in the direction of a nearby fenced field.

"What happened?" Asked another trainer, looking up from where his two darumakas were doing a juggling number with fireballs.

"It's that darned litleo! It managed to find its way in again, must be the fourth time already! I'm getting tired of this! My arcanine and flareon cannot rehearse properly if they're interrupted all the time!"

Bonnie perked up, instantly interested. She approached the big man a bit gingerly. "Excuse-me sir," she said, "I just overheard you, and I'm curious. Why can't a litleo be in your show? It's a fire pokemon too!"

The trainer grunted. "It's not the fact that it's a litleo, but this is a wild pokemon, it has never trained with us, and today of all days I don't have time for this! I'll be on stage at sunset, that's only two more hours!"

"Plus," added the trainer with the darumakas with a smirk, "This one is no good anyway. Doesn't even have a proper fire move, apart from that weird ember."

"Oh," Bonnie said. This had to be the same litleo she had seen practicing in the forest! It really was interested in the Fireworks after all! "Well, sorry to have disturbed you, I'll let you get back to your rehearsal then. I'm looking forward to seeing your shows!"

She returned to where she had left Helioptile, deep in thought. Alexa joined her just a minute later, explaining that she had been offered the opportunity to stand in the VIP stand and do some interviews, and Flint from the Sinnoh Elite Four would be there with his infernape, and would Bonnie be alright if she left her now? Bonnie assured her friend that she would indeed be fine, and was thinking of finding a good spot for watching the evening shows anyway. Alexa left in a hurry, almost forgetting her camera until Helioptile pointed it out. Bonnie paid her little attention: she was just as happy to be free right now, since she was very intrigued by the litleo's attitude and wanted to go look for it.

xxx

The blond girl decided to start where the litleo had last been seen. Slipping under the fence, she crossed the field on the other side until the far end, where a cluster of older houses stood. They seem deserted today. Probably all the inhabitants had gone to watch the fire shows, Bonnie thought. The little lion was not hard to find: as she turned the corner of the first house, it stood right in front of her, its fur all bristled, and growling.

"Hello Litleo", said Bonnie calmly, trying to show with her attitude that she did not mean the pokemon any harm. She took one step in its direction, but the growl intensified, so she crouched instead, hands extended in front of her. "I'm sorry I startled you the other night, I just wanted to meet you. I'm Bonnie, and this is my partner, Dedenne."

"De-dedenne" Squeaked her friend.

The litleo stopped growling, but it still looked very wary.

"Listen, I heard you wanted to be in the fire shows, am I right? Maybe I can help" Bonnie asked. The lion cub cocked its head in interrogation. "You can't just barge in the big shows, unfortunately, they are for professionals who have been doing that a long time, you know. But there is a session for beginners on the east grounds in one hour, anyone can join, you just need to show up on time, I heard. What do you say you take part in this one?"

"Lit?"

"Normally they wouldn't accept a wild pokemon, but we'll just pretend you belong to me, ok?"

"Litleo!" The little lion looked very excited. Bonnie laughed at its enthusiasm.

"Very well, we just need to practice until show time, then. I heard about what the other trainer called your weird ember move, and I've been thinking: you're not trying for ember at all, right? The move you're aiming for is fire spin, isn't that so?"

"Litleo!" The cub confirmed.

"That a great move," Bonnie smiled. "So let's practice, shall we? Dedenne, you can help us too!"

For the next hour, Bonnie and her new friend practiced intensively. At first, the litleo did not have more success than previously. When it tried for ember, the move was flawless, but fire spin was a different story.

"Ok, I think I know part of the problem," Bonnie said after a few failed attempts. "I think it might be because you do ember so naturally, so it gets mixed up in the new move. Plus, you should take very deep breaths before you try fire spin, it will increase the power of the move. Now, stand upright on your paws, head high, and focus all your attention right in front of you. Aim at Dedenne, directing your move will help you. Dedenne, be ready to dodge. Ok Litleo, one deep breath, then another. And… fire spin!"

This time, the characteristic spiral of the move was definitely there, though wobbly. Dedenne leaped to the left to avoid it. Bonnie and Litleo were dancing enthusiastically around each other.

"You did it! I'm so happy for you! Now do it again, and it will be perfect in no time at all, you'll see!"

The rest of the hour went quickly. Litleo gained more assurance each time it tried the move. On Bonnie's advice, it tried aiming it at the sky, and the resulting twist of fire was pretty. Too soon they ran out of time and departed at a run to avoid missing the show.

xxx

"We would like to take part in the beginners' show, miss" Bonnie told the official standing in the middle of the eastern grounds. Around her, about fifteen trainers with fire pokemons were being organised on the grounds, with plenty of space between them to avoid mishaps. "Litleo here is my pokemon." She added, blushing a little at the lie. But the woman never noticed. "Number 16, you can have the plot at the end of this line. You have twenty minutes. Have fun!"

Litleo really gave it its all, noted Bonnie a few minutes later, watching the pretty fire twister it was producing. And looking around, she could see that some of the others were not doing as well with their little shows. Not bad for a new move and something we put together on the fly in less than one hour, she thought with satisfaction.

"You could try turning on yourself while doing fire spin. Then alternate with ember while running in close circles." She suggested aloud to the lion cub. It did, and the resulting combination was even prettier. The twenty minutes of the beginners' show were over much too quickly. Still, quite a few people had come to watch, while waiting for the big shows to start. And Litleo seemed very happy.

Later, they found a good spot to watch the night shows, and it was even more beautiful and spectacular than Bonnie remembered from the previous year. Litleo seemed absolutely fascinated too, its eyes shining.

"The Fireworks are really great, don't you think? Maybe someday it will be you on that stage!" Bonnie said. "In any case, we had a lot of fun together today, didn't we?"

She took a deep breath of her own, then went on: "Litleo, would you like to have more fun with me and Dedenne? We're not sure yet where we're going, but we want to travel and have many adventures, and we would be happy to have you as a companion. How does that sound?"

The little lion turned to her with a serious demeanour, then playfully jumped on her, almost bowling her over, and started rubbing its head on her face. Bonnie laughed delightedly. "I take it that's a yes!" She took out a pokeball, and the cub touched its nose to it, disappearing inside with a beam of red light. Bonnie called it back immediately.

"Welcome to our little group, Litleo! I'm sure we'll have a great time together!"

END OF CHAPTER 3

 _So I decided that since Clemont had an electric lion, Bonnie should have a fire lion. Plus, I think Litleo and Bonnie go well together!_

 _Also, I'm going to try to upload one chapter per week. I have at least twenty planned, finding the time to write them is the hard part!_


	4. A friend in need…

**A friend in need…**

How could the day have gone so wrong so quickly? Bonnie thought despairingly as the lock turned in the door behind her, and she heard the heavy boots retreating. It had started so well! The blond girl sank unto the cool stone, head in her hands, as the memories of the day assailed her…

xxx

She had woken up with a lot of energy, still pumped up from the wonderful fire shows of the night before, and the new friendship she had struck with Litleo. The first pokemon she had caught all by herself, without any help! The morning was already pretty well along as she had made her way down to the lobby of the pokemon centre: the Kalos Fireworks had ended quite late, and she had stayed up even later, celebrating with the other spectators. Some trainers had put up impromptu mini-shows until shortly before dawn, as if unwilling to see the end of the event. Many were still hanging around when she went for breakfast, pausing only to leave Dedenne and Litleo with Nurse Joy for a health checkup. She wanted to be sure her pokemon were totally fit before going on the road again.

Listening to other trainers share their plans over porridge and hot chocolate had put the first damper in her day, as she realized that she had not given any thought to where to go from there. She was in Santalune, the Fireworks were over, and now what? She did not want to challenge Viola nor collect badges for the Kalos league, at least for now. In a word, she was stumped.

"I asked them, and they said their next show would be in Aquacorde Town. I wish I could go there!"

To distract herself from her aimless thoughts, Bonnie started to listen to her neighbours' discussion.

"So do I. That camerupt and combusken duet was a blast! Pun intended…"

The other trainer laughed, and Bonnie perked up. The duet had been one of the top shows the night before.

"Excuse-me," She interrupted, "Are you talking about another fire show?"

"No quite," answered the black-haired girl next to her. "I had the chance to talk to the trainer of those two pokemon yesterday, and he said he was part of a travelling circus. They put on all kind of shows with their pokemon, and judging by what we saw yesterday, it must be fun to watch!"

"Indeed!" Bonnie agreed with enthusiasm. "And you said something about Aquacorde Town?"

"Yes, that's where the circus will be next week. Apparently, they travel all over Kalos during the summer, and spend the winter months perfecting their shows. That firework performance was a masterpiece, I'd love to see more! But I really need to stay in Santalune, I'm trying to enter the next Kalos league and don't have much time to win my badges!"

"How many do you have now?" Asked the boy facing them.

"Five," The girl answered proudly.

"That's a lot! You must be very good! Hey, can I battle you? I only have two badges but I've been working hard."

"Sorry" the girl said, "I have to challenge the Santalune gym leader now, so I want my pokemon to be fresh. Bye!"

The girl all but skipped out of the pokemon centre. Bonnie stayed in her seat, deep in thought. Should she go to Aquacorde Town to see the circus? It seemed kind of a superficial way of travelling, going from spectacle to spectacle, but she did not have a better idea for the moment.

xxx

"Hey, would you battle me instead?" Bonnie all but jumped, having tuned out the freckled boy in front of her. The offer was unexpected, but she wasn't about to turn down a nice battle!

"Sure, just let me collect my pokemon and I'll join you outside!"

"How about we just do a one-on-one?" The boy – Bonnie realised she had never gotten his name – asked a few minutes later, when they met up on the lawn.

"Works for me!" She replied. "Who is your pokemon?"

"Hawlucha."

"Then my partner will be my Dedenne!"

The boy's hawlucha started with a nice wing attack, quite a fast one. But Bonnie was not taken off guard: she had trained with her brother and with other trainers at the Lumiose gym often enough, sometimes with Dedenne, sometimes with borrowed pokemon. And it was nice to have the type's advantage as well. She countered with a well-placed tackle, and had Dedenne follow it up with thunder shock. The unexpected speed of the counter attack left the hawlucha a bit disoriented. The trainer called for a karate chop, but Dedenne dodged the move easily, and placed a second thunder shock. The hawlucha bit the ground, then got up again.

"Ok Dedenne let's finish this! Nuzzle!" The little mouse was too quick and his adversary could not dodge in time. It bit the ground a second time, and stayed there.

"Hawlucha, return!" A few seconds later, the boy came up to shake Bonnie's hand. "Hey, you're good! How many badges do you have?"

"Actually," Bonnie replied with a smile, "I don't have any. I don't know yet if I want to take part in the Kalos league. But I've been doing quite a bit of training."

"It shows! You should do gym battles for sure, if you're that good without badges."

Bonnie laughed, in high spirits after her victory, and decided that yes, she would go to Aquacorde Town for now, and the future would take care of itself one day at a time. But she wanted to call her brother and father first. As luck had it, no one was at home, but a call to the gym got her Clemont.

"Hello big brother, how are you?"

"Bonnie! It's got to see you. Dad and I were getting worried. Everything alright?"

"Everything is just peachy! I had a lot of fun at the Fireworks. I ran into Alexa, and she allowed me to trail along backstage while she did some interviews, that was great. And of course the shows were amazing! But it's not the most important."

Clemont smiled at his sister's enthusiasm. "It's not?"

"Look who decided to come with me!" Bonnie said, holding up Litleo.

"A litleo? So you really took that advice about fire pokemon seriously!" Clemont laughed.

"Hey," protested Bonnie, "Fire pokemon are great. Though it was mostly a matter of chance, wasn't it, Litleo?" The cub in her arms purred.

"It often is," Clemont agreed with a smile. "But hey, congratulations on catching your first pokemon! And it looks like Litleo and you will have a great friendship. Oh, and by the way I have a message for you from Professor Sycamore. He understands why you did not want any starter pokemon, but he was rather disappointed that you did not pay him a visit before you left Lumiose City. He said to tell you that he would have a pokedex for you next time you come by, but he's not going to send it to you, you'll have to do without in the meanwhile."

Bonnie flushed. "I was so happy to start my journey, I did not remember to go and see Professor Sycamore before the next day. And I totally forgot about the pokedex to boot! Please tell him I am sorry and will come to see him next time I'm in Lumiose City!"

"No worry. So where are you going next?" Bonnie explained her plans, then brought the call to an end: the day was too nice to waste. A few minutes later, she departed the centre.

xxx

Trouble found her shortly after noon. Litleo and Dedenne were eating their lunch, and Bonnie had wolfed down a sandwich and was waiting for them to finish. The plain was dotted with fields and little wood thickets, and they had stopped in the shade of one of them. The place was quiet, no one in sight. Suddenly, a shrill cry resounded from the next patch of woods, and a blue bird exploded out of it. A swablu, noted Bonnie. It was flying as fast as it could in their direction and seemed frightened. She did not wonder why for long, as a big jeep came roaring into view a few seconds later. It was obviously in pursuit of the swablu, and the man in the roofless car was waving some kind of net above his head, aiming at the bird. The little pokemon did its best, but the fight was too unequal, and the driver caught it with a triumphant shout. The jeep stopped a few meters from where Bonnie and her pokemon stood, stunned. Everything had happened so fast they did not even think of hiding, and the man gave a grunt of surprise as he became aware that his little stunt had had spectators.

"Witnesses, hey?" He grumbled in his thick beard, scratching his bald scalp. "Can't have witnesses, it's bad for the business."

"You are a thief!" Bonnie cried, finding her voice again. "Release that swablu immediately!"

"Or what?" The man answered with a mocking laugh. "Are you going to try and stop me? You and which army? I got to admit, you've got spunk, little girl." He stopped laughing and reached for a pokeball. "But it's not going to help you. Now hand over your pokemon, step quietly into the car, and no one will get hurt."

"No way in hell. Litleo, ember! Dedenne, thunder shock!" A shower of flames and a lightning bolt were immediately shot at the thief, but the man did not even dodge. Instead he threw his pokeball in the air. "Trevenant, reflect!" The big tree pokemon came out of the pokeball and made a wall of light appear in front of him and his trainer, deflecting both attacks. "Now forest's curse!" Trevenant's eyes began to shine, and a ray of light shot out of its eyes and hit the ground around Litleo and Dedenne. The ground grew purple, and purple vines grew out of it to constrict both of Bonnie's pokemon, who began to twist around, unable to get free.

"No!" Bonnie yelled. "Litleo, fire spin!" Bravely, the lion cub shot more flames at its big opponent. This time the move hit, and the trevenant flinched, but it did not release its hold on either of its adversaries. Despite the type advantage, Litleo was hopelessly outclassed. "Confuse ray!" the man called, and his pokemon obeyed. It formed multiple brown-gold balls floating in the air around its head. Then it fired them at Dedenne and Litleo, who, still tied by the vines, could not dodge. The orbs exploded right in front of them, and both pokemon fell asleep.

"As you see, don't mess with me, little girl" the man concluded. Bonnie considered running, but where to? And she could not abandon her helpless companions. While she dithered, the trevenant had scooped up both Dedenne and Litleo and brought them to the thief, who threw them with the swablu into the big cage at the back of the jeep. "Now get in" The man motioned, and, trembling with rage but unable to disobey, Bonnie complied. "Oh, and I prefer the term pokemon hunter", smiled her opponent. "It has a much nicer ring to it, don't you think?"

"Filthy thief," Bonnie murmured from the back of the car, but the man either did not hear her or pretended he did not. He got into the driver seat and drove away, destination unknown.

xxx

So now, here she was, stuck into a cage-like cell inside a dilapidated house which served as the hunter's lair. From what she understood, the man planned on gathering a few more pokemon in the area in the next day or so before moving on to another region. He was going to leave her behind when he did so, while disappearing with his stolen preys… including her beloved friends! But what to do, what to do? The cell had brick walls on three sides and sturdy bars on the last one. The lock looked new and shiny, nothing she would be able to pick. Nowhere to hide, nothing to use, not even a bench to sit on – she gathered it was supposed to be a cage for bigger pokemon. The house itself was only a small one-room cabin on the edge of an abandoned field, and kilometres away from any other house. The situation looked bad.

But the blond girl was not much given to despairing, and pretty soon, she stopped feeling sorry for herself and started looking around for anything she might use. If nothing could be done now, what about later? Apparently she had at least a whole day and night to work out an escape plan. That would certainly give her enough time to think of something! First, she located Dedenne and Litleo, still asleep in the same cage as the swablu. The cage had been put carelessly on a bench on the other side of the room, which only contained a table, a bed in a corner, and several cages. Most were still empty, but one contained a clefairy and a bellsprout, and in the smallest one, an espurr stared back at her, its sad eyes threatening to undo her composure a second time.

The pokemon thief, or pokemon hunter, had left again, no doubt in search of more pokemon to steal. Had he taken the keys of the locks with him? No, here they were, on a hook next to the door! But out of reach of anyone, unfortunately, even if by any chance the bellsprout knew the move vine whip. The man was not taking any risks. Maybe Dedenne could slip through the cage's bars when he awoke? It seemed doubtful, for the cage had been built for small pokemon. Bonnie spotted her bag, flung on the ground besides the table, and knew she had a communicator in it, a present from her father. But the bag was just as out of reach as the keys.

"Okay girl," she told herself, feeling the anxiety rising again in her throat. "Panic never helped anyone. Now focus. It's not your first encounter with thieves and hunters, not the first cage you see, remember? What would Clemont or Serena do in this situation? What would Ash do?" As she remembered some of the predicaments she got herself into with her friends on her previous journey, she calmed down again, and a stray memory brought forward the beginning of a strategy. Of course her friends, and especially Ash, would never give up! He would fight and fight, and so would she! As soon as Dedenne and Litleo were awake, she would have them attack their cage over and over, and possibly coax some of the other pokemon into helping, until the bars bended enough for Dedenne to slip through and bring her the keys.

It was a good strategy, and it probably would work, except for one flaw: her pokemon showed no sign of stirring. Bonnie tried yelling, but to no avail, so she settled down to wait, hoping the hunter would not return in the meanwhile.

xxx

An hour passed, and still Dedenne and Litleo slept.

"Psst!"

Startled, Bonnie looked around for the source of the noise.

"Up here!" The voice said. "Are you alright?"

Looking up, Bonnie saw a brown-haired head in the roof window which provided the only light in the small cabin. It belonged to a girl about her own age. The swablu exploded into a flurry of excited chirps.

"Yes I am," She answered. "How did you find us?"

"I hid in the trunk of the jeep while the thief was battling you, then I slipped out when he brought you here. Swablu is my pokemon. I wanted to get into the house and rescue you all, but I can't pick the lock! And it's too high for me to jump down this opening!"

Bonnie thought hard. "I have a plan," she said finally. "But I need my pokemon to wake up first. Can you ask your swablu to use peck on them?" "Sure!" On her command, the little blue bird attacked Litleo and Dedenne. Both were startled awake, and Litleo reflexively defended itself with ember, singing the swablu's tail.

"Litleo, stop, Swablu was only helping you! Sorry about that", Bonnie said to the girl.

"Never mind, it's alright. So what's your plan?"

Bonnie explained, and the girl enthusiastically agreed to help. A combination of tackle, wing attack and ember was launched at the bars, once, twice… Suddenly, Litleo stopped using the fire move, and launched itself bodily at the cage alongside Dedenne. "Hey, that looks like headbutt!" the girl said. "That could be useful!" "Litleo, I didn't know you could use headbutt!" Bonnie exclaimed. "Keep it up, everyone, good job!"

Slowly, excruciatingly slowly, the bars started to bend. Though it only took a few minutes for the three pokemon to make an opening big enough for Dedenne to slip through, it seemed like hours. The little mouse scrambled out quickly. And encountered a problem Bonnie had not thought about: the keys were too high for Dedenne to reach, and the wall was too smooth for him to climb. Bonnie instructed her friend to use thunder shock to dislodge the keys from the hook, but it was not enough. Then, as she was about to give up, the keys started to glow faintly, and, slowly, rose by themselves over the hook. It looked like some psychic move, thought Bonnie, with a sharp glance at the espurr in the next cage. It was indeed looking straight at the keys with a focused expression. They trembled in the air for a few more seconds, then fell on the floor besides Dedenne.

"Good job Espurr!" said the girl on the roof, who had also traced the move to its source.

Dedenne ran to Bonnie with the keys, launching himself in his trainers' arms. With trembling hands, the blond girl opened the lock on her cell, then the cages, to discover that the key to the outside door was not on the keyring. Bonnie was momentarily stumped, but the other girl took over. "There, the rope in the corner, throw it to me!" Bonnie did, but missed. On the third try, she felt the rope become lighter as it started to glow: the espurr was helping them again. The brown-haired girl caught the end just as the espurr let it go, apparently unable to sustain the move longer, and secured it. Her swablu had joined her, perching on her head and singing. She shushed it. Working together, both girls got all the pokemon out through the roof window. Then Bonnie was the only one left on the ground. She tied the rope around her own waist, scooped up her bag, got on the table, and leapt. The girl on the roof heaved mightily, and the espurr used psychic on Bonnie: it seemed to be getting better at the move. Only a few seconds, but it was enough. She caught the frame of the window in one hand and the hand of the other girl in the other, and, after a few hairy moments, managed with the help of her new-found friends to get out.

They jumped off the roof quickly: on the back side, it was really low, and the grass made for a good shock absorber. As soon as they were all on the ground, everyone started to run as fast as possible, not looking back, even after they could not see the house any longer.


	5. …is a friend indeed

… **is a friend indeed**

They did not stop running until they reached the first village. There, in the shade of the very first house, they collapsed, totally winded. It took them a few minutes to regain enough breath to even think of trying to speak.

"Thanks," Bonnie said to her companion, still puffing. "I wouldn't have made it without you." She attempted to get up, but noticed she was shaking like crazy, and, doubting her legs would carry her at this point, decided to settle for sitting up instead.

"I think you would have," puffed the other girl, still lying down on the grass next to the pokemon. "That was a good plan you had. Thank YOU for helping me rescue my swablu, I wouldn't have managed it alone."

Bonnie smiled. "We made a good team, that's for sure." Even her voice was kind of trembling now, and that made her mad. She was no weakling! "I am glad we are out, and that everyone is fine."

"I think they are", the girl said, sitting up as well.

"Oh, and I'm Bonnie by the way. We didn't really have time for a proper introduction before…" Both girls laughed.

"I'm Laura. You have a lot of fine pokemon", she added, surveying the little band which had all followed them here.

"I don't," Bonnie replied. "Only Dedenne and Litleo are with me. I think the others didn't want to be alone, did you?" That last was addressed to the clefairy, bellsprout and espurr they had rescued. They nodded.

"That's surprising for wild pokemon, I'd have thought they would like to be as far from humans as possible after this."

Before Bonnie could answer, they were interrupted by a shout.

"Hey you two, are those your pokemon?"

Both girls looked up at the slim woman standing behind them, hands on her hips. Her uniform was a dead give-away of her identity. She had a suspicious expression on her face.

"Officer Jenny!" Bonnie exclaimed, relieved to see the policewoman. "No, not all of those are our pokemon, we just rescued the rest from a pokemon thief. Actually the thief caught me and my pokemon too, we just escaped. We need to catch him officer Jenny, else he will steal again, it would be awful! He puts them in those tiny cages and wants to sell them to the highest bidder!"

"What?" The blue-haired woman was flabbergasted. Whatever answer she had been waiting for, this fast ramble was not it. "Some pokemon, like Clefairy and Bellsprout, have been reported missing over the past two days, but I never expected something like this!"

"Oh, so they're not wild pokemon? Well that makes sense then!" Bonnie said. Trying to be clear and concise, she told the officer what had happened.

"Where did you say his base was?" Officer Jenny asked when Bonnie stopped talking.

"It must be about three or four kilometers from here," Laura replied. "The pokemon hunter said he would be back after he caught his next preys, so we must hurry, Officer!"

The policewoman nodded decisively. "I'll organize a response team immediately. You two, bring the rescued pokemon to the pokemon centre and wait for me there, I'll pick you up." She jumped back on her motorbike, making the tires screech in her haste.

xxx

Entering the pokemon centre, Bonnie and Laura saw a distraught old lady. They had hardly set foot in the reception hall that the clefairy sprinted in her arms. The woman beamed at the girls. "You found her! I'm so glad! Clefairy had been my faithful companion for years, I was so worried!"

Nurse Joy was approaching. "Officer Jenny just called. So which pokemon should I take in my care? Martha, I see they found your clefairy, that's fantastic!"

"Well, we also rescued Bellsprout and Espurr", Bonnie said.

"Oh, that must be the bellsprout that the young man was looking for yesterday!" Martha said excitedly. "When I went to see Officer Jenny because my clefairy had disappeared, there was this nice young man, he said that this bellsprout was his brother's favorite pokemon. He seemed quite anxious."

"Alright, then I will contact her office and tell them that that young man can come pick up Bellsprout here, and in the meanwhile I'll take care of it", Nurse Joy said. "I'd better check Clefairy and Espurr too. What about your pokemon?" She asked Bonnie and Laura.

Both girls shook their heads. "Officer Jenny wants us to lead her to the thief's lair," Laura explained. "I'd rather Swablu stayed with me for now, I'll bring him back afterwards." "The same for me," Bonnie added.

The clefairy and bellsprout went to Nurse Joy willingly enough, but the espurr seemed very reluctant. In fact, it was hiding behind Laura. The brunette knelt.

"Well Espurr, what is wrong? You don't want to stay with Nurse Joy? She'll take good care of you, and you'll be reunited with your trainer very soon!"

But Espurr did not budge. Instead, it was wordlessly fixing the girl with very wide eyes, as if trying to convey something.

"You know," Bonnie said tentatively, "it looks like Espurr doesn't want to be left behind."

"Is that it?" Laura asked the pokemon. "Do you want to help us catch the pokemon thief? You can come with me if that's your wish."

"Espurr!" The kitten's face shone with determination.

"Well, that was clear enough," Bonnie laughed. "Doesn't surprise me though, one look at Dedenne and Litleo and I know there would be hell to pay if I tried to leave without them both."

"Girls! Get in the car!" called Officer Jenny from outside. In a flurry of limbs, girls and pokemon hastened to obey.

xxx

"Do you think he'll be back soon?" Laura whispered to Bonnie. Both girls were hidden with Officer Jenny in the bushes on the south side of the cabin, while two more officers lay in wait directly behind it. Everything had been quiet since they arrived, more than an hour before.

"I don't know," Bonnie said. "He didn't say…"

She went quiet as she heard the now familiar roar of the jeep. The thief, or hunter, or whatever he wanted, was finally back. And not alone either. There was no sign of his trevenant, but as the car came to a stop in front of the cabin, they could see that the big cage at the back was not empty: an exhausted-looking furfrou lay on its side in the middle, its once-pristine fur dirty and matted. The man was whistling. He got out of the jeep and grabbed a pokeball.

"Freeze!" Officer Jenny shouted. "You are under arrest!"

Instead of complying, the thief immediately sent out his trevenant. "Forest's curse!" This time, the vines wound themselves around Officer Jenny, who hissed, but managed to send out her own pokemon before being entirely paralyzed. "Manectric, thunder fang!" The dog pokemon was quick and scored immediately, but trevenant hardly even flinched. It seemed quite resistant to electric attacks. From behind the cabin, the two police officers suddenly appeared, a growlithe and a liepard at their sides. The pokemon thief cursed, and before they could attack, sent out another pokemon. "Nidoking, use megahorn and then venoshock, and repeat!" The nidoking pounded on the growlithe, sending it flying. The man turned its attention back to Officer Jenny and manectric. "Trevenant, feint attack!" Manectric whimpered as the attack struck. "Again!"

"Litleo, fire spin!" Bonnie yelled. The flames momentarily stopped the tree pokemon, and the thief looked up in astonishment at the girl he thought he had under lock inside the house.

"Swablu, follow it up with repeated peck!" Laura exclaimed. The little blue bird was quite swift, and the trevenant faltered.

Meanwhile, a well-placed shadow ball from liepard had made nidoking stumble, and a second one had freed Officer Jenny. She sent her manectric against trevenant again, but the tree pokemon was far from beaten. With reflect then forest's curse, he immobilized both manectric and liepard.

"Watch out! He's going to use…" "Confuse ray!" Bonnie's warning came too late, both pokemon fell under the attack.

"No!" Laura shouted. "Swablu, continue with peck, it didn't like it! We have to keep it off-balance!" The trevenant was trying to catch its tiny foe, but swablu was fast. Time and again it attacked, until a well-placed feint attack sent it hurtling towards the ground. Laura's distressed cry was cut in mid-air as Swablu's fall was suddently stopped. Astonished, she saw the little bird hoover just above the ground, and as she ran and snatched it up, she noticed the trembling pink line outlining her friend. "Espurr," she murmured. The kitten had at first stayed hidden when the battle was joined, but now she saw that it was still intent on helping them to the best of its abilities. Swablu was out cold, but his courage had gained them valuable time.

While Trevenant was busy with Swablu, Bonnie and the growlithe's trainer had ganged up on the nidoking. A combination of Litleo's headbutt, Growlithe's flame charge and Dedenne's tackle had brought it to its knees, and a double fire spin knocked it out. The pokemon thief recalled it, swearing. Turning on Trevenant, Litleo and Growlithe repeated the double fire spin. Then Growlithe charged again, flaming, and Bonnie was hesitating between headbutt and ember when Litleo took the decision out of her hands. It went charging alongside the other fire pokemon, and flames were coming out of its mouth.

"Hey, I didn't know your litleo could use fire fang!" Laura said. "That's cool!" The dark-haired girl had returned Swablu to its pokeball and was now standing next to Bonnie with Espurr at her side.

"I didn't know either," Bonnie replied, surprise in her voice. "I think it's a new move. Litleo, you're amazing!" She shouted to her little companion.

The shock when both fire attacks reached Trevenant proved too much for the grass pokemon. Its use of reflect didn't save it from lots of damage, and an energetic flame thrower from the police officer's growlithe decided the issue of the battle. Instantly, the thief turned towards his car, intending to flee, but Officer Jenny was quicker, and she handcuffed him before he could take more than two steps.

Bonnie and Laura jumped in excitement and high-fived each other at the victory. Bonnie gathered her pokemon to her.

"Dedenne, Litleo, you were really great!" She told them. Dedenne jumped affectionately in her arms. Litleo was looking very proud of itself as she scratched it behind the ears. "Another new move eh?" She murmured. "You are one gifted pokemon, you are!"

Meanwhile, Laura had gathered Espurr to her. "Thank you for saving Swablu!" She told it quietly. It showed the pertinence of its name by purring loudly in her ears.

"Thank you both for your help" Officer Jenny said, approaching the girls. "That was one strong pokemon thief, I think we would have been outmatched without you. My men are bringing him to prison right now. I will take his jeep and bring the furfrou to the pokemon centre now, it looks in a bad shape. I believe your pokemon also needs some attention, will you ride back with me?"

"Of course, Officer Jenny, thank you!" Bonnie replied.

xxx

"So, what are you going to do now?" Laura asked.

It was the morning after the arrest, and the girls had spent the night at the pokemon centre. The evening had been full of excitement. Both Bellsprout and Furfrou's trainers had showed up very quickly, and tearful reunions had followed. All pokemon had been treated by Nurse Joy and her wigglytuff. Both had been quite exhausted at the end, but all pokemon were perfectly healthy again, and watching all the pokemon happy had been their best reward. Bonnie and Laura had soaked it all in, quite tired as well. The day had been much richer in emotions than either had expected, after all. Bonnie could hardly believe that it was the very same day she had woken up in Santalune, it seemed like weeks had gone by in that single day!

"I don't know," admitted Bonnie. "But right now I think something quieter would be perfectly alright for me! I had enough excitement to hold me for a while, thank you very much!"

The girls laughed.

"Yeah, me too," Laura agreed, when she calmed down. Her face went serious. "I'd like to stay here until they find Espurr's trainer, though. I'm worried about it, it looks very despondent today."

Bonnie glanced at the grey kitten, who was sitting quietly nearby, watching their other pokemon play together. They had been unable to locate Espurr's home the evening before. Neither Officer Jenny nor Nurse Joy had heard about an espurr missing. Nurse Joy had offered to keep it at the pokemon centre until they could reunite it with its trainer, but it was obvious that Espurr didn't care much for the solutions. All evening it had followed the girls, keeping especially close to Laura, and it had insisted to sleep in the room they had shared, as well.

"You know," Bonnie said seriously. "I've been thinking about that. To me, it looks like Espurr is mostly worried about us leaving it, and not about not finding its trainer. Especially, it's worried about you leaving it. Remember when we thought yesterday that the thief had caught wild pokemon?"

Laura's eyes went wide as she caught on.

"You think Espurr is a wild pokemon?" She asked. Bonnie nodded, and Laura went to kneel in front of Espurr.

"Espurr, do you have a trainer?" Gravely, the little feline shook its head. "Would you like one?" Laura pressed on. "I mean, you were really brave and you showed lots of initiative yesterday, you impressed me! I think we could be good together. Will you come with me?" She took out a pokeball with a trembling hand.

For a few seconds, Espurr didn't move at all. Then lilac eyes met caramel ones, and slowly, Espurr advanced until its paw touched the ball. It pressed on it, and the pokeball engulfed it with a flash of red light. Laura looked incredulously at the pokeball, as if unable to believe what had just happened. Then she turned to Bonnie with one of the biggest smiles the blond girl had ever seen on anyone.

"It chose me!" She said reverently. "Me!" She repeated.

Bonnie smiled as well, not really understanding the incredulity but happy for her new friend.

"It's great! I'm sure you'll have lots of fun together!"

"I think we will," said Laura tremulously.

xxx

One hour later, they were both packed and ready to go. Bonnie was dawdling outside the building, uncharacteristically shy. She knew what she wanted to ask Laura, but would the other girl agree? She did not even know where she came from or where she lived!

"Laura, where are you going from here?" Bonnie enquired finally.

"Acquacorde Town", the dark-haired girl replied.

"Hey, that's where I'm heading too! Shall we travel together?" Bonnie suggested, happy at the coincidence. That was perfect!

Again, Laura seemed surprised by the question.

"I mean, if you want to," Bonnie hastened to add, not sure how to interpret the girl's reaction.

"Of course I want to!" Laura replied immediately.

Bonnie got a mischievous smile.

"Then I'll race you to the end of the village, come on!"

Laughing, both girls departed at a run.


	6. Old chains

**Old chains**

"So why are you going to Acquacorde Town?" Laura asked a while later, as both girls were walking through a sunny meadow.

"I'm going to see the circus there," Bonnie answered. She laughed self-consciously. "I was at the Kalos Fireworks just… two days ago I guess? It seems waaay longer. Anyway, there was this amazing show with a camerupt and a combusken, and a trainer at the pokemon centre said she had heard they were part of a circus in Acquacorde Town, so I wanted to check out the other acts! It must be a great show!"

"Oh," Laura said. "Are you… planning on being a performer or something?"

"I don't know. I don't know my dream yet." Bonnie's reply sounded a little downcast. She immediately brightened. "But that's why I'm travelling, to find it! I'm sure I will. So what about you? Are you also on your journey?"

"Not exactly," Laura replied with some awkwardness. "I was in Santalune for the Fireworks too, but now I'm returning to my family in Acquacorde Town."

'Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just thought, since you're a trainer…"

"I'm not really a trainer. I found my swablu as an egg, and ever since it hatched, he insisted on staying with me. My brother suggested I catch it, so I did. But that's it, really."

"Well, Espurr wanted to be with you too, so I'd say that makes you a trainer. A pretty good one, if your pokemon love you."

Laura stopped and looked at Bonnie with shining eyes.

"You really think so? Hey, maybe you're right! I'd love to be a real trainer!" The dark-haired girl stopped for a while, then asked shyly: "Would you help me create a little show before we reach Acquacorde Town? I would like to present it to my family when we arrive. We have several days, that should give us enough time to practice!"

"I'd love to! I had such fun at the Fireworks putting together a little number for the beginners' show with Litleo! Of course, we had just met and we only had one hour, so it was all quite hurried."

"You and Litleo invented a show in one hour? I don't believe it! You must be really good!"

"Really clueless, rather!" Bonnie answered with a laugh. "But it worked out, more or less. And we struck up a friendship along the way, so… Anyway, how can I help you?"

"Well, I'd like Espurr to practice psychic, and then…"

xxx

Four days later, the two girls arrived in Acquacorde. The town itself looked rather sleepy, and they passed through quite quickly. The circus was quite easy to find: the big purple tent where the shows took place could be seen from afar. As they approach, Bonnie noticed that Laura was getting more and more nervous.

"Is something the matter?" she asked.

Laura's reply was almost inaudible, and the blond girl pulled closer. "Listen Bonnie, there's something I have to tell you…"

"Laura, you slacker! Where have you been? George came back yesterday."

The voice which interrupted them sounded quite irate. The girls jumped apart, and Bonnie looked bewildered at the heavyset woman in front of them.

"Hello mama," said Laura in a little voice. "I'm sorry I'm back so late. It wasn't my fault…" The woman went red.

"Not your fault? You just disappear on your brother without a word, and you expect me to be satisfied with such an idiotic excuse?"

"George went ahead without me when Swablu disappeared, he said he would turn up on its own and I was wasting his time, but…"

"That's not what George said! Why you little liar…"

Bonnie was starting to be quite annoyed by the woman's attitude, but before she could intervene, a dark-haired teenager came up to them.

"Mum, let's not start with the name calling so early in the day, ok?" he said, engulfing Laura in a smothering hug. "I'm glad you came back safely. I was concerned when George said you were coming back on your own, he shouldn't have left you."

Laura's mother huffed, but did not continue her diatribe.

"Well, you can go to the arena now that you're back. You're on cleaning duties today. And be quick about it, your father will want to start his practice as soon as he finishes helping George with his number. And who's this?"

The last was addressed to Bonnie, who was still by her friend.

"I'm Bonnie," she replied. "Laura's friend. And this is my partner Dedenne. I was at the Kalos Fireworks too, and I was so impressed by the combusken and camerupt show that I decided I had to see your whole spectacle."

The woman seemed mollified by her answer. "Well, the show is this evening at seven," she said, dismissing her.

"Actually, can I help Laura with her chores, please?"

"Why would you want to do that?" the woman asked, while Laura looked up in astonishment.

"That's what friends do!" Bonnie replied with a smile, willing to ingratiate herself if that was what it took to convince the woman. Behind Laura's mother, her brother gave her a thumbs-up.

"Well, I'm not going to turn down free help then. But no fooling around!"

xxx

"Bonnie, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was part of the circus. I'm kind of the black sheep here, they're all so talented."

The two girls were inside the big tent, which somehow looked even larger from the inside. The benches and the arena were still in disarray. Bonnie supposed it was from last night's show.

"Don't worry about it, sometimes people have reasons for not telling everything. Why, on my last trip, my own brother didn't want to tell our friends that he was the Lumiose gym leader. Long story."

"Your brother is the Lumiose gym leader?"

Bonnie laughed. "See, I didn't tell you everything either. But you're wrong on one thing though: you have a lot of talent too, I know that!"

Laura shrugged, unconvinced.

"Anyway, you really don't have to help me clean, you know."

"Of course I do, we're friends, aren't we?" Bonnie smiled. "I'm not going to leave you in a lurch. So, what should I start with?"

Laura had thrown her bag on a bench and was pulling out cleaning equipment from behind the bleachers on one side.

"Well, if you don't mind raking the arena, I can put away all the accessories, and then we can clean the benches and bleachers together?"

"Sounds like a plan. You're on!"

Bonnie's deliberate good mood was succeeding in pulling Laura out of the despondent state her mother's "welcome" had put her in. What a strange family! She thought. Well, the big brother seemed nice enough. He reminded her a bit of Clemont. But still, no one had asked Laura how her trip had been, or given her much opportunity to tell of her travails. And Laura had not volunteered anything either, as if she thought it did not matter.

A while later, a bald man with an extravagant moustache entered the tent, accompanied by another teenager, who seemed somehow familiar.

"Ah, Laura, you're back. Good. Are you finished here?" He asked. "George needs to practice in situ."

"Just about finished, dad!" She replied brightly. "I just need to put some fresh sand in the arena."

"Took you long enough to come back, sis!" The teenager said snidely. "Be quick, I added a new twist to my fire number so that I can do it inside."

So that was the George with the combusken and camerupt act! He did not seem very nice, Bonnie thought. Neither of the newcomers took any notice of her.

"When you're finished, you can prepare food for all the pokemon" Laura's father added. "And your mother said not to disturb her, she's working with Pelipper and Glalie, there's a move combo that's not working as she wants."

xxx

As Bonnie and Laura walked outside, the blond girl could not help but ask:

"Is your whole family in the circus?"

"Oh yes! My mum and dad are the owners. Mum does water shows, mostly, and Dad is specialized in ghost and dark types. Then there's George, who you've seen in Santalune, Reed, who likes grass pokemon, and my uncle Tim and my cousin Elisa, who are the only ones you haven't seen yet. They have a rock and ground show together, and my uncle also does a number with electric pokemon."

"Big family! Me, it's just my dad, my brother and me."

"Laura!"

A young woman with a big nose and lots of makeup was waving at them.

"When will the pokemon food be ready? Mine are already hungry!"

"Give it a rest, Elisa, I haven't even started yet." Laura shouted back. "If they're so hungry, why didn't you start yourself? I see you're not practicing with Uncle Tim right now."

"Yeah well, Lunatone and Sandslash don't like what I prepare. And I just finished my nails, I wouldn't want to chip the polish!"

By the end of the afternoon, Bonnie was really angry for her friend. True, the whole family, except for Elisa, seemed to be working hard on the shows, but that left most of the housekeeping work to Laura, who even with Bonnie's help was struggling to meet all the demands. Okay, she had been gone a few days, so there might have been some catching up to do, but still! It was amazing her mother in particular had let her go to Santalune, in fact.

"George wanted someone to help him on the road," explained Laura when Bonnie said something to that effect. "I was the only one they could spare."

"So, when are you going to show them your own number?" Bonnie asked. "You designed it for the spectacle, didn't you?"

"Oh, it's not good enough for the show yet!"

"Still, you said you wanted to present it to your family at least" Bonnie insisted. "It's a really good number, you should show them your talent!"

"Laura? Talent? Don't make me laugh!" George commented. The girls hadn't heard him approach. Bonnie frowned.

"She's very good!" She retorted.

"And what do YOU know about talent?" retorted the freckled boy.

"Now, now, what are you fighting about?"

Reed, Laura's second brother, was coming up to them. He seemed to be the peace-maker in the family.

"Apparently, Laura has a "number" to show us" George laughed.

"What's this I hear about a number?" Laura's father asked.

Trapped, Laura shot an anxious glance at Bonnie, who made an encouraging gesture.

"Well, I've been developing a little act," she admitted shyly.

"Is that why you were late getting back?" snorted her mother.

Bonnie had had enough.

"The reason Laura came back later than her brother was because her swablu had been captured by a pokemon thief!" She exploded. "So were my pokemon, and me, and a bunch of other pokemon! I never would have gotten free without her. Then we helped Officer Jenny catch the thief, and after that it was very late."

"Blimey Laura, is Swablu alright?" Reed asked. His sister nodded.

The rest of Laura's family seemed incredulous at first, but as Bonnie recounted the events, they started to believe her.

"And Laura only practiced with her pokemon when we stopped for the day," Bonnie finished.

"Great! So, you want to show us your number, sis?" Reed asked. George sniggered. "Dad, do we have time now?"

"Why not?" Their father agreed easily. "Let's move inside."

Laura's mother looked like she wanted to protest, but, maybe somewhat shaken by the story of the pokemon thief, did not say anything.

xxx

When the whole family had taken place on the benches, Laura went to the middle of the arena.

"Swablu, Espurr, come on, time for the show!" She said brightly.

Bonnie saw the surprise on Laura's family faces when Espurr got out of its pokeball.

"Swablu, feather dance!"

The little blue bird launched quite a storm of feathers at Espurr, who, using psychic, sent them right back at him. Swablu dodged right and left. The feathers followed him, tightening up into a feather snake. Espurr was very focused. The dance continued for a minute or two, until the feathers caught up with Swablu and he disappeared inside of a feather ball. Bonnie smiled. The little act was going well. Reed was looking impressed, and even George had lost his mocking smile.

"Now peck!"

The cotton-winged bird sent the feathers flying in all directions. The plan was for Espurr to catch them once more, and to shape them into a neat circle above Laura's head, through which Swablu would fly, before letting them fall gracefully on Laura like powder snow while Laura herself would rise and catch Swablu. But the feathers were going too fast for Espurr. The little cat only managed to capture about half of them. Still, the overall effect was achieved, and the number could have been saved by the finale, if Espurr, exhausted by its attempt to control all the feathers, had still be able to lift Laura up like they trained. As it was, its psychic move failed while Laura was hovering about one meter above the ground, and she fell heavily, landing on her behind. Red-cheeked, the slim girl got up again, and for a few seconds, Bonnie thought she would be alright. Then Laura's brother and cousin started laughing. Her lips trembled, her hands shook, and she sprinted out of the tent without a word, snatching up her bag on the way. With a distressed cry, her pokemon followed.

END OF CHAPTER 6

 _Sorry about the late update. It's hard to keep to a weekly schedule! I know a guy who does updates thrice a week, that gives me a new appreciation for his work!_

 _And just a little peek into what's coming: next chapter is going to involve a big decision for Bonnie and Laura, and the one after that, we'll be meeting another very familiar character from the series… Stay posted!_


	7. Decisions

**Decisions**

Bonnie felt frozen to her seat for the longest time after Laura's dramatic exit, but it probably did not last more than a few seconds. Then she ran out after her friend, but the dark-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. Where had she disappeared to?

"You won't find her by yourself if she doesn't want to be found," said a voice behind her.

Reed, the nicer of Laura's brothers, had also come out of the tent, and he was looking worried.

"Those jerks!" Bonnie said angrily. "She was doing good, she really was! So what if the finale didn't turn out like she wanted?" She clenched her fists.

"I was astonished actually. Oh, not that she was doing good, don't look at me like this! I know my sister has talent! What she lacks is confidence. It's the first time ever that she puts herself forward like this. Such a shame it didn't go better, really! If she had pulled a flawless number through, this bunch might have started to take her seriously. But they can't see how far she's come already. And to gain the trust of an espurr, that was also an accomplishment in and of itself. Those pokemon have the reputation to be quite choosy about who they decide to follow."

"She practiced really hard in the evenings, you know." Bonnie sighed. "I just don't get it. A family should be supportive!"

"I guess everyone just sees her as the baby in the family," Reed replied with some embarrassment. "Heck, even I am guilty of that sometimes."

Bonnie did not reply, but to her it seemed more than a case of not recognizing that Laura was not a young child anymore. Clemont would never have treated her like that, not even when she really was just his annoying baby sister who rushed into things before thinking them through and who would try to marry him off to all the pretty women they met.

She frowned and shook her head to clear it, unwilling to be distracted by her own thoughts. The important thing right now was to find Laura.

"When she needs time to herself, where does Laura go?" She asked Reed.

"Beats me. Somewhere calm I suppose. I mean, we're always setting up in different places, so it's not like she can have a favorite spot somewhere!"

"So let's go look for her, come on!"

Reed grimaced. "Sorry, the show will start very soon, I can't leave now. But you go on. I'll lend you one of my pokemon, she'll help you. Tropius, come out!"

A big quadruped pokemon appeared in front of Bonnie, unlike any she had seen before. It was mostly brown, had sturdy legs, big leaves that looked like wings on its back, a very long neck, and some weird-looking fruit-like appendage under its chin. It also looked very affectionate, as it immediately started to rub its head against Reed's arm with much energy, almost making him fall.

"Hey, cut it down Tropius! Now, I need you to find Laura. When you do, go see Bonnie here and show her the way, ok?" The big pokemon took flight immediately, proving that the leaves on its back were indeed wings.

"What on earth was that?" Bonnie asked.

"A tropius. She was my very first pokemon. A grass/flying type. It's because of her that I started to be interested in grass types. Usually she's in my acts, but as luck has it my new number involves Breloom, Phantump and Nuzleaf instead. Laura loves her and she loves Laura right back. And it's not the first time that she helped me find her. But I need to go now. Good luck! Tell Laura she did good, will you? I'll talk to her after the show."

The teenager ran back into the big purple tent, leaving Bonnie alone. None of the other family members had even made an appearance, visibly more preoccupied by the upcoming show than by Laura being upset.

So, where should she start looking for her friend? Bonnie eyed her surroundings. On her left, the road which led to the center of Acquacorde. In front of her, some houses with well-tended gardens. And to her right, after a little meadow, a grove of pine trees. Hmm, Laura probably wanted to be alone, so the woods seemed the best bet. But the sun was setting, and it would soon be dark. Well then, she'd better hurry to find her.

She ran towards the woods, Dedenne at her side. The little mouse pokemon seemed as determined as she was to find their friend. Under the trees, the light was already half-gone.

"Laura!" Bonnie called, again and again. She searched until the night had completely fallen, without success. "Gosh, I can hardly see anything anymore." She muttered under her breath. "Litleo, come out, I need your help!"

"Lit?"

"Litleo, fire spin!" The lion cub obliged, and the dancing flames shed some light around them. A few seconds later, Tropius landed right in front of her with a heavy thud. She must have been looking for them and been unable to see them in the darkness. The big quadruped seemed excited.

"Hey, did you find Laura before the light went?" Bonnie asked. Tropius nodded vigorously.

"Alright, lead the way!"

xxx

"I'm not going back."

Those were the first words Laura had spoken since Reed's tropius had led Bonnie right to her hiding place. The girl was kneeling in a little hollow under a pine tree, hugging her espurr hard and with her swablu softly chirping on her shoulder. Tropius was trying to reach her, but could only fit her head and part of her long neck in the small space.

Bonnie puffed. She had run hard behind Tropius, and despite Litleo's light, had fallen twice along the way, not noticing roots until it was too late.

"I'm not asking you too." She finally said.

Laura looked up at her with surprise. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

"Really? Even Reed usually just tells me to forgive and forget. "They mean well sis, don't take it so seriously." That's his line." She sighed. "You know, for one moment there I really thought I could accomplish something for once. But I was just kidding myself. There's no way they'll let me be a real part of the circus, I'm just not talented enough. I'm a total failure."

"What are you talking about? Of course you're talented, you just need to train more!" Laura looked unconvinced. "Look," Bonnie went on, "I told you my brother is a gym leader. And he is really good, too! But he still loses every now and then, and he doesn't think it means he's a failure afterwards. He just goes right on training to get even stronger."

"Yes, but you said he was good…"

"And he became good by training! Another friend of mine is a performer. Her first show was a disaster. She didn't let it stop her though. That much my brother and my friends taught me: you get good by constant practice, and by meeting new people. You can learn a lot by seeing different methods of training and battling. And the many faces that friendship between trainers and pokemon can take. That's why I'm travelling now, even though I've seen most of Kalos already. There's so much to learn on the road."

Laura was taken aback by Bonnie's outburst.

"Look, did you mean it when you said you were not going back?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I wanted to, that's why I even took my bag with me, but how could I?"

Bonnie frowned, confused, but pushed on.

"Easy! Just come with me! Oh say yes, pretty please! We would have so much fun, travelling together!" She was practically dancing in her excitement. It would be so perfect!

Laura stayed silent for the longest time. In the darkness that had enveloped then when Litleo returned to its pokeball, Bonnie could not see her face, and she wondered what her friend was thinking.

"You have very good potential, I'm sure of it, but you need time to practice, and you need to meet new people who can teach you new things." She insisted. "Your family, well… they don't give you much free time, do they?"

Actually, that was an understatement in comparison to what Bonnie really wanted to say about this sorry excuse for a family, but for once she had managed to control her usual impulsiveness. Still Laura stayed silent, and Bonnie did not know what to add. Tropius, who had finally managed to wrap her hand and neck around her old friend, was making soft crooning noises, and Espurr was purring. Suddenly, and to Bonnie's amazement, Laura started to laugh.

"Swablu, stop that!" she managed to say between two bursts of laughter. "I mean it, stop it, it really tickles! Nooo!" The little bird was apparently paying her no heed, because she continued to laugh and twist around. As far as Bonnie could tell, Swablu had taken a very direct approach to cheering Laura up by using his ultra-soft wings on her neck.

"Ok, ok, you're right, I'm taking this too seriously, you made your point!" Laura gasped finally. Swablu relented, and the dark-haired girl took a deep breath.

"I'd love to travel with you Bonnie, thanks for the offer!" She said, extending her hand to her friend. The blond girl shook it solemnly, then started laughing herself. Unable to resist, Laura laughed again, until both girls were on the ground with hands clasped around their middle and no breath to speak of, so strong were their peals of laughter.

"Oh, I'm so glad you said that, it'll be great!" Bonnie gasped.

xxx

"Sorry for having been in such a funk tonight" Laura said a few minutes later, when the two friends had regained some composure. "I'm not this emotional usually, but…"

"Hey no worry, everyone has down times every now and then."

"Oh no, I just realized I made you miss tonight's show! I'm so sorry!"

Bonnie pulled a face. "You really need to stop apologizing you know. It doesn't matter about the show, really. There will be other shows. Say, what do you want to do now? I left my bag at the circus so I need to go back in any case."

"No way I'm going to face them all!" Laura said.

"So let's go get something to eat instead. We'll wait until late, then I'll sneak in and grab my bag. I have a tent, we could sleep right there in these woods and be on our way tomorrow morning with no one the wiser. Oh, but what about Tropius? Would she show your family where we are?"

"Na, she's a good girl, she won't even let Reed know if I ask her not to, right, Tropius?"

"-pius!" Agreed the grass pokemon before nuzzling Laura one last time and taking off at a gallop.

"She doesn't fly at night," Laura explained when Bonnie looked curious.

The plan worked as well as they had hoped. They came back to the circus after a quick bite in a fast food joint on the other side of Acquacorde. The sandwiches were not great, but they were filling, and that was all that either girl wanted. By the time they actually got back, it was quite late, and all lights were apparently out.

"What, no one stayed up to be sure you made it back?" Bonnie whispered.

"Go figure," Laura replied with a shrug. "Wouldn't be the first time. So where did you leave your bag?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure, actually." Bonnie admitted sheepishly. "Maybe where we put the brooms back today?"

"Maybe? Are you kidding me? I hope it is there, we can hardly search the whole place, we'd wake someone up for sure!"

But as it turned out, Bonnie's bag was very easy to find. It lay directly outside the main entrance to the purple tent, and there was a note on it.

"Bonnie," It read. "I'm guessing from Tropius's attitude that you found Laura. I'm also guessing you two might not make an appearance back here anytime soon, if I'm any judge. She needed a good friend and I'm glad she found you. Tell Laura I support her and I think she's doing the smart thing. Reed."

Laura stared at the note for the longest time.

"Hey, come on, we need to get out of here," Bonnie said after a while.

xxx

"So where should we go?" Laura asked the following morning, as they were folding down the shellder tent.

It had been fun sharing that tent again, Bonnie thought. It brought back so many good memories with Serena and the gang!

"Hmm?" she said.

"I said, where should we go?" Laura repeated, seeing Bonnie distracted.

"Let's swing by the pokemon center, I'd like to call my brother, if you don't mind. We'll figure out the rest one step at a time."

"Works for me, as long as we detour around the town so that I'm sure not to cross my family. But I really want to put some kilometers between me and them, so let's not take too long ok? On the other hand, it would be a good opportunity for Nurse Joy to have a look at Espurr in particular, it really wore itself out for me yesterday, poor little buddy."

Bonnie was able to reach Clemont right away. It was the first call she had placed since the day they had helped capture the pokemon thief, and her big brother had an anxious look on his face when he answered her.

"Bonnie! Where have you been? I was getting worried. Please try and call a little more often, will you? Is everything alright?"

"You worry too much big brother, I was perfectly fine. I've just been busy, that's all."

Quickly, Bonnie updated Clemont on what she had been up to. "And so from now on Laura and I will be travelling together! Isn't that great?" She concluded. "We'll have such great times together, I'm sure of it!"

"You've been busy alright," Clemont acknowledged. "But I'm glad you found a travelling companion. It's really better to travel with friends, isn't it?" The two siblings shared a reminiscing smile. "And I'll worry less if I know you're not alone."

"Hey, I was never alone, I had Dedenne and then Litleo with me." Bonnie protested.

"I know, I know, but still I prefer it that way. So where are you going next?"

"Well, that's our next decision. But I have no idea, to be honest. Well, the only idea I have is to head for Anistar City, because Laura's espurr still has trouble with psychic, and with the psychic gym there, there are many trainers who should be able to help her with it. Maybe one of Olympia's disciples? Plus, I'm wondering if I could not teach Dedenne a psychic move as well, that could come in handy. That is, if Laura agrees to go there of course. Other than that though, I don't know. I still haven't found out what I'd like to do. I like both battling and performing, it's so hard to decide!"

"You know, I think what you need is a change of scenery. And from what you told me, it looks like your friend Laura could use one as well."

"What do you mean big brother?"

"You feel stuck here in Kalos, don't you?" Bonnie shrugged, then nodded. "So don't stay in Kalos!" Clemont advised. "I was hoping you would reach this conclusion on your own, but I hate to see you so aimless. There is a big world out there, you know. Go to Hoenn, like Serena did. Or to Kanto like Ash!"

Bonnie's mouth dropped. The solution was so blindingly obvious, she did not know how she could have failed to come up with it on her own.

"Whoa, thanks Clemont! This definitely bears thinking about! Hey, Laura is finished, so I'll call you back when I have more news, talk to you soon! I'll let you know what we decide."

"Take care, Bonnie. And don't forget to call!"

"What bears thinking about?" Laura asked, coming up behind her. Bonnie's friend had her espurr in her arms.

Bonnie told her Clemont's idea. Laura got a big smile.

"You have the coolest big brother!" She exclaimed. "I'd definitely be up to it! But not Hoenn, my family comes from there and I know it as well as Kalos, if not better. We lived there until about three years back."

The dark-haired girl was silent for a few seconds.

"Hey, what do you think about Johto?" She asked somewhat shyly. Her uncharacteristic ebullience from a moment ago was gone.

"Johto?" Bonnie repeated. "I can't say I've really thought about Johto one way or the other. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've never been there myself, but I know they have this big circus contest once a year. If I can enter it and do well, heck, even win it, that would definitely show my family!"

Bonnie thought quickly. It was true, the Johto region had never been on her radar so far. Which was the best reason to go there, really. So many discoveries to be made! Just the idea filled her with excitement.

"I'd love to go!" She exclaimed. Then a thought struck her. "But do you know if they have pokemon shows there like in Kalos? I still haven't chosen what I'll do but performances is one of the options."

"They don't, sorry," Laura grimaced. "But they do have contests, would that work?"

Bonnie smiled. "Sure! I haven't even seen a contest before, so that would be one more new thing. So exciting! So… Johto?" She asked, just to be sure.

"Johto!" Laura confirmed.

Both girls high-fived each other and whooped around, under the indulgent gaze of Nurse Joy, amused by so much enthusiasm and energy.


	8. The great unknown

**The great unknown**

"This is a weird feeling," Bonnie commented one evening.

"What is?" Laura asked, looking up from where she was cooking dinner on Bonnie's stove. To Bonnie's great appreciation, Laura had turned out to be a pretty decent cook. No more instant noodles when camping! The first time they had gone grocery shopping, Laura had taken one look at what her blond friend wanted to buy, and decreted that even if they had to keep their load light, there was no way she was going to eat such junk. She was not quite in Clemont's league, but then, in Bonnie's partial opinion, very few people were. The vegetable stew currently simmering in the little pot smelled delicious, in any case, and the girls had gotten fresh bread to go with it at the last village.

"Like I'm going backwards. I wish we were in Johto already!"

"Hey, one thing at a time! I think we're making really good time." Laura replied. "We'll be in Lumiose City in two days at this rate."

"Yeah, but this is the exact same road I followed in the other direction just a few days ago," Bonnie complained. "Say, would you mind having an early start and pushing hard tomorrow? I bet we could be in Lumiose by nightfall, and we could go straight to my father's place."

"Alright, if you want to." Laura easily agreed. She was turning out to be a very agreeable travel companion, with a heretofore unsuspected amount of equanimity and good cheer. "But I think we have been pushing quite hard already, you know. Don't worry, Johto will still be there in a few days!"

Thinking back on the last days, Bonnie had to agree with Laura's assessment. Eager to start their new adventure, they HAD indeed been pushing the pace rather hard, mostly stopping only for a quick rest around lunchtime and for the night. Bonnie suspected that, left to their own devices, each would have walked a little bit slower and made a tiny bit more stops, but they seemed to be spurring each other on. On the plus side, this was getting Bonnie back into shape very quickly, and getting her where she wanted to be faster, so she was definitely not complaining. Because they had been so eager to leave Acquacorde, especially Laura, they had not lingered around the pokemon center after making their big decision, and it had not occurred to them that they did not know the best way to go to Johto until that evening, when they started making concrete plans. What they did know, however, was that there were only two possible means of transportation to get there from Kalos, plane and boat. In both cases, they had to go to Lumiose City, either to the airport there, or on their way to Courmarine. And now, they were camping at the edge of the forest where Bonnie had first met Litleo, and Lumiose was almost within reach.

"I still want to reach Lumiose tomorrow if we can."

"Hey, I already agreed!" Laura laughed. "Anyway, dinner is ready, both for us and for the pokemon."

At these words, their little furry and feathery friends, who had been playing together nearby, came running to her. Bonnie smiled at their enthusiasm. At the same time, her stomach growled loudly, destroying her pretense of more decorum, and Laura laughed again.

xxx

"Bonnie! I thought you'd be there tomorrow at the earliest," said her father, engulfing her in a bear hug. "And you must be Laura. I'm glad Bonnie found a good friend, travelling is so much better with friends! Thanks for taking good care of my daughter!"

"Nice to meet you," Laura said. "You have a great daughter, sir, I'm happy we're travelling together."

"My, you're a polite one," Meyer commented. "No need to lie though, I already know what my daughter is like!"

"Dad!"

The big man laughed.

"Well, you arrive too late for dinner, but there are still plenty of leftovers in the kitchen. Clemont returned to Prism Tower after eating, no doubt he's tinkering with whatever mechanic he's working on right now."

The next day, Bonnie and Clemont's father had to leave early, having promised the pokemon center to fix their secondary generator. When Clemont woke up after a short night – he had stayed up very late, working on his latest invention – he found the girls on the information terminal, looking up Johto.

"Sleeping the morning away as usual," Bonnie commented as he entered the room. "You can thank Laura, I was going to wake you up and she persuaded me not too."

"Appreciate it," Clemont yawned, with a nod to the dark-haired girl. "Though I don't know how you did it, tempering Bonnie's energy is no easy job!"

Laura stammered a reply, looking embarrassed. Bonnie had noticed that her friend was quite painfully shy with stangers, even in such an informal context.

"So, now that you're up, you can help us!" She said. "How would you go to Johto, boat or plane? We're having trouble finding the right information, it seems like there are too any options. The boat is cheaper, right?"

"Oh I'd definitely go by air," Clemont answered. "The ships that go between Kalos and Johto are mostly freighters, and very very slow. The journey takes more than three weeks, you'd go nuts. Plus, there aren't that many of them anyway. Let me check, I think Dragonite Airlines is flying to Johto every day. There you go!"

Bonnie and Laura looked at the page.

"Sounds good," Bonnie said. "What do you think, Laura? Laura? Hey, what's wrong?"

Her friend had an alarmed expression and looked on the verge of crying. She threw an agonised look at Bonnie's brother, reddening. Twice, she tried to speak, but no words came out.

"Oh Bonnie, I can't do it," She murmured despairingly after a while.

"Why not?"

This time, her voice was so low it was very hard for the siblings to hear her.

"It is too... I mean I don't... I don't have enough money for the ticket. I'm sorry! You'll have to go without me."

Bonnie and Clemont exchanged looks.

"No way I'm going without you! I can pay for you, no problem," Bonnie offered immediately.

"No!" Laura cried out. "Thank you so much for making the offer, you're really too nice, but I won't let you! I have to make my own way. I'm sorry, I can't accept, it would be wrong."

"But..."

"Laura is right," Clemont interjected. "Being indebted to someone is not something to take lightly. It has destroyed many friendships."

"What? You can't agree with her!" Bonnie exclaimed, aghast. "I want to continue to travel with Laura!"

"As it happens, I might have a solution." Laura and Bonnie stared at him, one face filled with hopelessness, the other with indignation. "Bonnie, you know when you told me that the gym was starting to really look like a pigsty and I really should spruce it up?"

"Yeah?" Bonnie said, surprised at the apparent non-sequitur.

"Well, I decided you were right after the day Electrike decided to play in one of my storage rooms and came back out grey as an espurr. So I made a nice machine to clean the whole place. I called it the cleaning-and-dusting-in every-nook-and-cranny-machine. I was supposed to complete it yesterday, but when I tried it, it unfortunately exploded into my face. So I'm back to square one, and since I'm quite busy with gym battles right now, I think the best thing to do would be to hire a cleaner. You can have the job if you're interested," he added, turning to Laura.

"Oh I am!" She cried. "But, this is not make-work, right?"

"Oh no," Bonnie replied before Clemont could. "His gym really does look like a pigsty and needs a thorough cleaning."

"Gee Bonnie, thanks," Clemont said sarcastically.

"In that case, I accept! But I'm sorry your machine didn't work as you intended, I hope you didn't get hurt?"

"Don't worry, my brother is used to it, his machines are always blowing up in his face – or the face of anybody nearby, really."

"Bonnie!"

xxx

Visiting the Lumiose gym a while later, Laura had to admit that Clemont's offer, though fortuitous, was definitely not make-work. Situated in the heart of Lumiose City, inside the famous Prism Tower, it was quite striking and very modern, but there clearly was an air of neglect about it, as if the owner had more important things to do than housekeeping. Looking at all the half-finished machines in Clemont's workshop, it wasn't hard to understand that he had many other interests to fill his time. She was even more impressed by the gym leader after that little tour, even with Bonnie's remark from earlier that her brother's inventions weren't always very successful.

"I hadn't realised it was quite that bad," Bonnie said. The blond girl had insisted on sharing the work, despite Laura's protests, saying that it would go much quicker this way and she wanted to be in Johto as soon as possible. "It might be faster to go by boat, in the end."

"Sorry," Laura responded automatically.

"Stop apologising! It's not even your mess. This one we can lay directly at my brother's feet."

Knowing they had several days' worth of work in front of them, the two girls started quickly.

"Espurr, come out!"

"Espurr?"

"Use psychic on all the small parts laying around and put them in this box, it will be a big help! But don't try lifting anything too heavy, it would tire you too much."

Bonnie thought that it was a great idea to turn a chore into a useful training session. Not to be outdone, Dedenne decided to help too, wiggling into the small corners under the big pieces of machinery to gather the small parts that Espurr could not see.

It took them five full days to completely clean and tidy up the gym. The arena itself was not too bad, since Clemont had wanted to maintain a minimum of decorum in front of his opponents. But the back areas, the workshop, the storage rooms! They were a disaster. Bonnie wondered how her brother had been able to find anything when working on his beloved mechanics.

While cleaning the gym, the girls had the opportunity to see several of Clemont's battles. Ever since returning from their big journey two years ago, he had decided that his opponents could choose between challenging him or Clembot, his robotic assistant. Usually, one was battling and the other was refereeing. As it happened, most of the trainers who came to challenge the Lumiose gym in those few days decided to battle Clemont himself. Having decided that he wanted to keep his gym a pure electric one, the blond gym leader mostly used his recently evolved magnezone, his heliolisk and his luxray for the battles, though he was hoping to be able to use Electrike in the near future. In the meanwhile, Electrike, Chespin and Litleo played together a lot. The three little pokemon had become fast friends from the moment Litleo had met the other two. Chespin and Litleo had the same kind of mischievous streak, and were always sprurring each other on. They were often getting into one trouble or another, with Dedenne a willing accomplice. Espurr took its role as helper of the two girls much more seriously, though Laura encouraged it to go play with the others if it wanted too.

During the gym battles, Bonnie and Laura stopped working to cheer Clemont on. Bonnie pleaded and pleaded to be the official battle judge at least once, since she now had the legal age, arguing that she had seen so many battles already that she would even be able to do it in her sleep. In the end, her brother relented, to her delight, and the experience left her grinning from ear to ear. Laura was deeply impressed by Clemont's battle style and the training he had given his pokemon. Only one challenger, out of seven, was able to defeat him.

"Your brother is really great!" Laura told Bonnie in an admirative voice after Clemont won his fourth battle in a row.

The blond girl smirked. "Laura, are you sweet on my big brother?"

"What? No, of course not," Laura replied immediately. "I just meant he is a really good trainer!" But she could not bring herself to look her friend in the eye as she said it, and Bonnie wondered if the dark-haired girl wasn't blushing a little.

"Anyway," Laura continued, clearly keen on changing the subject, "When are we going to see Professor Sycamore? You said you wanted to see him while you were in Lumiose City."

"Right. Let's go tonight then. You'll love his laboratory, he's got so many cute pokemon!"

xxx

Laura indeed enjoyed her visit of Professor Sycamore's laboratory very much, though being her usual shy self, she observed a lot but said little. Professor Sycamore easily forgave Bonnie for having skipped coming to see him before leaving Lumiose City the last time, and gave her, as well as Laura, the latest pokedex. He also took Laura on a tour of his laboratory, with Bonnie interjecting many comments to his explanations of his current research. The Hoenn girl was a little wary of Garchomp at first, but seeing his sweet nature was cuddling him alongside Bonnie before long.

Professor Sycamore wanted to see Bonnie's new pokemon, and Laura also showed him her swablu and her espurr. The professor was especially interested in swablu, saying he had never seen its mega-form.

"My swablu can mega-evolve?" Laura said with surprise. "That's really cool!"

"Well, not Swablu himself, but his evolution, yes."

"So lucky," Bonnie gushed. "I want to have a pokemon that can mega- evolve too! Professor, can my litleo mega-evolve? As a pyroar I mean."

"And my espurr?" Laura asked.

"Not that I know of, Bonnie, Laura. Of course, just because no one has seen a mega-pyroar or mega-meowstic until now doesn't mean that it isn't possible, but don't count on it."

"Oh well, it's ok, I'll find other friends, maybe it will work with one of them. I love my litleo anyway!"

"And I love my Espurr!"

"You certainly both have very likeable little lads, " Professor Sycamore agreed.

"Lads? Is my espurr a male? I never knew."

"And Litleo too?"

"Of course! Didn't you know?"

Both girls shook their heads.

"Well, you just had to ask them you know, they know what they are!"

The two friends exchanged sheepish glances: they had never thought of such an easy solution. Soon after, they took leave of the professor.

"Have fun in Johto you two! It's a very nice place with lots of interesting pokemon. You'll have to tell me all about your adventures there next time we meet."

"We will, " Bonnie promised. "Good bye Professor, and thank you again for the pokedex!"

xxx

The last evening, Bonnie insisted on going shopping with Laura and giving her a makeover, saying that this was a new phase in her life, a new beginning, and she needed a new look to go with it.

"You'll feel a different person, you'll see!"

She hoped it would bolster her friend's confidence. After all, she reasoned, it had worked for Serena! Laura let herself be convinced, and the two girls had great fun trying on lots of clothes. In the end, the dark-haired girl traded her faded jeans and greyish t-shirt for a cute dark-blue skirt and yellow blouse, saying she wanted some sunshine everyday, even if the real sun was hiding. As they were on sale, she got stylish boots to go with the outfit, but decided to keep her old bag, which she found very comfortable to carry.

Finally, the day of their departure came. True to his word, Clemont had purchased Laura's plane ticket, waving away her words of thanks. "You more than deserve it, you did a great job at the gym." He told her. "And I liked the way you intertwined fun and training with your espurr. Keep it up!"

The blond boy accompanied his sister and her friend until the airport. Chespin, unhappy to be parted from his new friends, insisted to come along too. Finally the time for farewells came. Clemont wished Bonnie and Laura luck. He seemed a little envious of his sister going on such a neat adventure.

"Well Chespin, little buddy, we need to say good bye now, they'll miss their planes if they don't go now."

"Chespin, ches!" The little hedgehog was clinging to Bonnie's leg, unwilling to let go. Clemont sighed.

"He missed you and Dedenne a lot when you were gone," he told his little sister. "Things just haven't been the same for him without you two. Bunnelby is my main assistant in the workshop, Luxray and the others in the gym, and I think Chespin has been feeling at loose ends. I was hoping that having Electrike would change that, but since she was in such bad shape when we found her, I had to spend a lot of time with her, just getting her to trust humans again, and Chespin resents that, a little. Playing with Dedenne and Litleo and the others this week has been much fun for him, and I guess Chespin has a hard time accepting that it has come to an end."

"Chespin!" Agreed his little friend with a stubborn expression.

Bonnie looked at Chespin, then at her brother, thoughtfuL

"You know, there might be a solution..." She started to say.

"Wouldn't you mind?" Her brother immediately replied. "I was thinking it might come to that, so I have Chespin's pokeball with me. Though I'd miss the little scamp!"

"Of course I wouldn't mind, he's fun to be around! Chespin, do you want to go to Johto with Laura and me?"

"Chespin?" The little spiked pokemon looked at his trainer.

"It's fine with me," Clemont assured. "Go on an adventure with Bonnie if you want to."

"Chespin!" The siblings had to smile at Chespin's enthusiasm. Clemont entrusted his little friend's pokeball to Bonnie, looking a little sad.

"Hey don't worry big brother, I'll take good care of him!"

"I know you will, Bonnie. Now run along you two, or you're really going to miss your plane this time!"

xxx

"Hello Johto!" Bonnie exclaimed with a big smile upon disembarking.

The flight had gone quickly, and the adventure in Johto could now start. Laura followed her exuberant friend, amused by her antics. The Cherrygrove airport was not very big, and the two girls were soon out in the streets, just taking in the new sights. Bonnie was jumping around in her excitement, commenting an everything she saw.

"So cool! And so many pokemon that we rarely see in Kalos! Look, here is a marill with the lady in blue! And here a houndoom! And a togepi! Oh, they are so cute!"

"Slow down Bonnie," Laura called, as her friend started running. "I can't follow you this quickly. And be careful where you're going!"

The warning came too late. Rounding a corner at great speed, Bonnie collided with a black-haired boy running in the other direction.

"Hey," he said angrily. "Watch where you're going!"

"Watch it yourself!" Bonnie retorted, unwilling to admit to any wrongdoing. After all, the boy was running too, wasn't he?

"Whatever, I don't have time for this. Have you seen a treecko?"

"No, sorry," Bonnie replied, her annoyance instantly quelched as she saw the worry on his face.

"Damn, he should be here somewhere."

"Hey, shall we help you look for him? Many eyes are better than two."

"Oh, would you do that?"

"Sure," Laura said, piping up for the first time. "My swablu could even look from the air."

"Thanks a lot you two! That would be a big help! I'm worried about him, we had a bit of a fight for stupid reasons and he disappeared. It's not like him at all!"

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure we'll find your treecko. I'm Bonnie by the way, this is my friend Laura, and my partner, Dedenne."

"Nice to meet you both. My name is Max."

END OF CHAPTER

 _My, this chapter was full of surprises! The big one, Max's arrival in the story, was planned from the first. Had you guessed? And yeah, Max has a treecko. I mean, it's practically cannon, isn't it?_

 _The other one however, Chespin tagging along with Bonnie on her Johto adventure, came as a surprise to me too, to be honest! I hadn't planned on it at the beginning of the chapter. But the cool thing with characters is that they have a mind of their own sometimes, and Chespin really wanted to go. So I had no choice but to let him!_

 _Thanks to all of you who took the time to give me a review, it's so nice to hear from my readers. Do continue to tell me what you think, I'll gladly take all criticism, good or bad! I'm sure I can improve many things, but it's hard to be neutral when you re-read your own story._


	9. A misunderstanding

**A misunderstanding**

"Treecko! Where are you? Please come back!"

"Treecko! Your trainer is worried, won't you return?"

"Treecko?"

The calls came from everywhere: Bonnie, Laura and Max had split up to look for the little lizard. Laura had sent Swablu to look from above. So far, the search had been unsuccessful. It did not help that none of the children knew the city: several times, they had run into dead ends, and more than once Bonnie was not sure where she was. Fortunately, kind passer-bys helped her find her way each time, but not one of them had seen Max's treecko. The boy looked rather despondent as the three of them met again.

"Treecko could be anywhere," he sighed. "It's not a big city, but everything here is new to him, I hope he's not hiding somewhere scared."

"Don't worry," Bonnie said. "I'm sure we'll find him in the end. We won't stop until we do!"

"You know," Laura added, deep in thought, "I think if your treecko had been out in Cherrygrove at least one of the inhabitants would have seen him by now, even briefly."

"What do you mean? Of course he is in Cherrygrove!"

"Undoubtedly, but maybe not in the streets. We should search elsewhere."

From his expression it was easy to see that Max had no idea what she meant. Actually, Bonnie was not quite sure herself, but since her timid friend looked pretty confident for once, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"Look, where do you go when you feel afraid, or sad?"

"What? What kind of question is this?" Max bristled, sounding pretty offended, but Laura did not even flinch from his tone.

"Never mind the macho posturing," she said urgently, "what kind of place do you prefer when you want to be alone? If you and Treecko are close, chances are he'll favor the same kind of hidey-hole!"

"Laura, that's brilliant!" Bonnie said admiringly, and the dark-haired girl blushed.

Max had lost his frown and was deep in thought. "I don't know if Treecko and I are that close, considering he fled, but... I guess I tend to retreat somewhere quiet," he replied after a while. "Someplace with few people. Someplace with nature around, but civilized, soothing, nothing too wild."

"Someplace like a park?" Laura suggested. "There's a big one between here and the airport, we passed it on our way to the city centre. It's a bit farther than where we've been looking so far, but not so much that your treecko coudn't have reached it."

"The place with all the flowers? We saw it too when we left the airport, even stopped there for a quick snack. I don't know how I didn't think about it sooner! Treecko really liked it." Max exclaimed excitedly. "Plus, he's a grass-type, he'd feel more comfortable there than in the town centre with all the paved streets!"

"Great, let's go then!" Bonnie said, bouncing on her feet.

The three children departed at a run, with Max puffing behind the two girls. Bonnie smirked, seeing that he was even more out of shape than she had been. But she restrained from saying anything about it, since Max still looked very worried about his treecko. She wondered what the argument between the two of them had been about.

xxx

"Excuse-me Madam, have you seen a treecko?"

They had repeated this question, or a variation of it, about a dozen times since reaching the park, without success. Some people did not even know what a treecko was, since they were so rare in Johto, but the explanation "a small, green, lizard-like pokemon" had not enlightened anyone. With each successive denegation, Max had become more somber, and it was obvious that he was wondering whether his pokemon even was in the park, or whether it had all been a bad idea. Bonnie and Laura were not sure what to tell him to give him hope, so it was a very silent group that was now roaming the paths of the Cherrygrove park.

"Why yes I did!" Answered the young woman on the bench. She was nursing a baby girl, while a ledian, next to her, was twinkling in elaborate patterns to amuse the child. "It went past us about twenty minutes ago, in this direction." She pointed to the rose garden. "I thought it weird that I could not see its trainer, but I was busy with my daughter, so I didn't pursue the matter."

"Thank you so much madam!" Bonnie said excitedly, while Max took off at a run in the indicated direction without as much as a by-your-leave! She ran after him.

"Sorry about my friends." Laura said to the bewildered woman. "We've been worried about Treecko, and they both seem to be easily excitable! Thank you again, have a good day! You have a lovely daughter!"

She followed Max and Bonnie, leaving the puzzled young woman behind. Just before reaching the rose garden, she heard shouts from both of them, angry ones.

"Oh no, what now?" She murmured, turning the last corner.

The scene unfolding among the pretty flowers had her gasping in surprise. Bonnie and Max had found his treecko alright. The little pokemon was perched on climbing roses lacing their way over an arch, out of reach. Just under it, an upset-looking Max was shouting at him to get down, while Bonnie had interposed herself between the two and seemed to alternate between shouting at Max and trying to calm things down.

"What happened?" Laura asked Bonnie, casting a wary eye in Max's direction.

"We saw Treecko directly," Bonnie replied, "but upon hearing Max call him he ran up there instead of coming to see him, so Max got upset."

"Treecko, get down here! Look, I'm sorry for earlier, but you shouldn't run off like this, I looked everywhere for you! Now get back in your pokeball where you belong!"

"Treecko, tree!" The little pokemon was clearly unwilling to comply.

Bonnie and Laura exchanged glances: as apologies went, this one did not sound very heartfelt nor very diplomatic. The Hoenn girl grimaced, but she also cast a worried look at Max and took a step back. Perfectly understanding that Laura was unwilling to put herself forward again, Bonnie decided to take things into her own hands. She forcefully gripped Max and got him to take a few steps back.

"Stop it, both of you!" She yelled.

Both Max and Treecko looked at her, momentarily jolted out of their two-sided confrontation.

"It's obvious that you're not going to resolve this on your own, so what is it all about?"

"None of your business," Max muttered.

"The hell it's not! We helped you find Treecko, didn't we? Come on, you can't keep fighting between yourselves! That's not what you want, do you? Do you?" The last was addressed to Treecko. Slowly, both boy and pokemon shook their heads.

"So, what you need is someone exterior to the conflict, someone who can judge the situation with neutrality. Someone like a referee. And I just happen to referee for my brother all the time." Despite her anxiety at the unstable situation, Laura had to hide a smile at Bonnie's outrageous assertion, but Max, eyes fixed on Treecko, did not see it. "Do you want me to help you out?" Bonnie continued.

She also looked at Max's treecko. The lizard looked at her, then Dedenne, who was making encouraging noises of his own, and nodded. The blond girl extended her arms to him, and he slowly went down the arch, then jumped on her shoulder. Max's mouth dropped.

"Ok," he said when he found his voice again. "If Treecko trusts you so will I."

"Good, now let's hear it!"

"Well, it's kind of complicated but I'll try to keep it short. We just arrived in Johto yesterday you see, and it's my first time travelling on my own, so I guess I was a little nervous. Nervousness tends to make me short-tempered, unfortunately. Anyway we found the pokemon centre alright, and this morning, I wanted to train with my pokemon. But Treecko seemed unsettled, and hardly listened to me. In retrospect I believe my nervousness had leaked unto my pokemon, and they were looking at me for reassurance, not orders and criticisms."

Max was not even talking to Bonnie anymore, totally reliving the scene and self-analysing it.

"After Treecko missed the bullet seed attack for the fifth time in a row, when I had seen him do it flawlessly in Hoenn, I lost my temper. Ghosh, I was horrible. I told him I wish I hadn't been saddled with such a contrary treecko! After the way we came together, he must have thought I didn't want him, that's why he fled!"

The boy's eyes were humid, though both Bonnie and Laura tactfully pretended not to have noticed. They were very curious about Max's last statement but decided not to interrupt. The black-haired boy turned to Treecko, who had jumped down from Bonnie's shoulder and looked as if he did not know whether to flee or stay.

"I'm sooo sorry Treecko, I never meant to imply that I didn't want you travelling with me! I've loved treeckos for a very long time, but that's not why you're with me, I swear. And it's not because Professor Birch asked me to take you with me either! I really liked you back at the lab, but since you and Torchic and Mudkip are supposed to be for beginners I didn't think I should ask Professor Birch if we could travel together. I'm sure he noticed, and that's why he asked me to help you develop your potential, not because he thought you were unsuitable for beginners or anything! I swear I'm telling the truth!"

"Treecko?"

"Of course I want you to travel with me! Will you?"

The green lizard looked at his trainer for a long time. Afraid to spell the spell, Bonnie and Laura were hardly breathing. Then, Treecko nodded, and cautiously, touched the pokeball in Max's left hand. A red light engulfed him and he disappeared inside. Max dropped to the ground, breathing heavily in relief.

"So you're a Hoenn guy," said Laura after a moment, trying to stear away from the heavy drama.

"Yep," Max answered gratefully, visibly glad to be on less shaky ground. "I come from Petalsburg City."

"Hey, that's not far from where my family and I used to winter over!" Laura replied. "We were in Oldtale Town."

"So you're from Hoenn too," Max said with a smile. "I wondered, since you had a swablu. What about you, Bonnie? With that dedenne, you must be a Kalos girl, right?"

"Right! Say, you must know quite a lot about pokemon if you know that, Kalos pokemon are hardly ever seen outside of their region. Or have you been to Kalos too?"

"No, I never travelled there. But I definitely try to keep informed, I love to learn about pokemon."

Max took a deep breath:

"Anyway, thanks a lot, both of you, for helping me find my treecko. I was getting a little bit anxious, I must say."

You were freaking out, actually, thought Bonnie. Aloud she said: "Hey, don't worry about it. It's normal to help our fellow pokemon trainers!"

"Max, you said you were at the Cherrygrove pokemon centre last night, could you show us the way?" Laura asked. "I'm getting tired, this has been a long day."

"Sure, follow me!"

xxx

"So what are your plans, Max?" Bonnie asked over dinner. "You said you just arrived in Johto, like us."

"I'm going to challenge the Johto gyms and take part in the Silver Conference," Max announced proudly.

"Whao, so cool! But why choose Johto?"

"Well, I've already travelled in Hoenn and Kanto a lot, a few years ago, with my big sister and some friends, and I wanted to see someplace new. My sister was in Johto before and told me quite a few nice stories about the place, so it made me curious. What about you? What are a Hoenn girl and a Kalos girl doing together in Johto?"

Bonnie told him about meeting Laura in Kalos, and about the two of them deciding to come to Johto for the circus contest. "As for me, I still don't know what I'll end up doing. Maybe I'll challenge the gyms too, and we'll be rivals!"

"Hey, that would be fun!"

"What is your sister doing? Did she challenge the Johto gyms too?" Laura piped up. The opportunity to wash and rest had done wonders for her tiredness, and she was contentedly munching on the very good pizza in the dinner next to the pokemon centre.

"No, she's a pokemon coordinator. A really good one too! She's participated in the Grand Festivals in Hoenn, Kanto and Johto so far. Twice she went to the finals, though she didn't win. And now, she's in Unova. They've just started with the contests, it's the first year ever it's been organised there, so she wanted to check it out. She's doing really well there too!"

"Whao, that's a cool big sister! She sounds as cool as my brother!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"Oh? What is he doing?"

"He's the Lumiose City gym leader. It's a really tough gym in Kalos!"

"Clemont is really good!" Laura interjected. "We were helping at the gym for a few days, and he only lost once in the entire time!"

"Your brother is a gym leader? What a coincidence, so is my father!" Max exclaimed.

"No way! What were the odds?" Bonnie replied, laughing.

"What about you, Laura? What does your family do?"

"Hmm, they have a circus."

"Hey, that's cool too! Is that why you want to take part in the circus festival here in Johto? Wait, you're from Hoenn and your family has a circus, and you wintered in Oldtale... are you by any chance from the Wondrous Wonders Circus?"

"Err, yeah, my parents own it."

"I remember it from when I was young. There were two boys just a bit older than me, one with a tropius and one with a torchic and... a numel I think? I used to think it would be great to do stuff like that when I was a trainer. So you all went to Kalos, that's why I haven't seen any publicity for the circus in such a long time!"

"Well yes, my family wanted to travel the other pokemon regions, but so far they've stayed in Kalos the past few years. I wanted to see something different, so here I am, with Bonnie."

Laura yawned.

"I'm sorry guys, I'm getting tired again. I'm off to bed."

"I'll come with you Laura, I'm tired too! We started so early in Lumiose City that it feels like it happened yesterday already! Good night Max! See you around!"

"Good night girls!"

END OF CHAPTER

 _So, my apologies for the wait, real life caught up with me and I was busier than I wanted to be. Plus, I wasn't really sure how to start the relationship between Max and the girls. It's harder for me to get inside his head, for the moment._

 _I'll let you in on a little piece of information for next chapter though: Max has brought one more pokemon with him to Johto, who do you think it is?_

 _Thanks again to the readers who took the time to make a review. I may not respond to all of them, especially if doing so would reveal some of the plot(s), but I read and cherish all of them!_


	10. Going with the flow

**Going with the flow**

"Hey, what's up? You look like someone just stole your favourite teddy bear!"

Laura jumped. She had not noticed Max's arrival. The dark-haired girl was still somewhat nervous in front of the energetic and loud boy, so she looked around for Bonnie, but her friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Well," she finally replied, "I had a bit of a disappointment this morning. I asked Nurse Joy about the next circus contest, and apparently I missed one just a few weeks ago! And it will be many months until the next one!"

"Oh, that's a bummer!"

"Yeah, I'm not sure what to do now. I mean, of course I need time to put together a good act, but…"

"You didn't plan on having so much time on your hands, right?"

"Hey Laura, here you are! What's with the long face?" Bonnie had just appeared in the pokemon centre's entry hall, bouncing energetically as usual. Laura told her what she had just learned. The Kalos girl was sympathetic, but did not seem too disturbed.

"Oh well, we'll just find a new plan. Don't worry Laura, I'm sure we won't lack for things to do while you prepare for the next contest! Come on, there's the entire Johto region to discover!"

Bonnie had opened her arms wide, and Dedenne had jumped on her head, mimicking his trainer.

"You think so?"

"I know so! We just have to take the first step, and follow the flow."

"What's the first step?" Laura asked timidly, looking at Bonnie with big eyes. Though the two of them had planned the Johto trip together, and the region had been her idea, she had not really thought about the reality of their journey before.

Before Bonnie could answer, Max interrupted: "Why don't you come with me until Violet City? That's where I'm headed next, to challenge the gym leader and get my first badge! Bonnie, didn't you say you were considering entering the Silver Conference too? That would be your chance to try! Though of course, I get first dibs on battling the gym leader."

"That's a great idea!" Bonnie replied, enthused. She laughed: "I did want to go to the next city with a gym, but I didn't know where it was yet…"

The blond girl turned to her friend: "See Laura, that's what I was talking about, there's always something coming next. Why, without that pokemon thief I wouldn't have met you, and I'd never have thought about coming here in the first place."

Laura nodded with a smile.

"Pokemon thief?" Max asked, nonplussed.

"I met Laura when she rescued me from a so-called pokemon hunter," replied Bonnie. "We'll tell you the story one of these days!"

"I'd love to travel with you both," the Hoenn girl said, before Max asked any more questions. She was not sure what to make of the look he had just thrown her at Bonnie's off-ended remark. "Sorry about my mood earlier, I can easily get myself into a funk if I don't take care!"

Max dismissed the apology with a flick of his hand.

"Can I see all your pokemon?" He eagerly asked instead. "I love to study pokemon! Do you have any others from Kalos? Besides your dedenne I mean. I have very rarely seen any Kalos pokemon!"

Both girls laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Sure," Bonnie replied. "It's a lovely idea, let's get everyone acquainted! Come out, you all!"

She threw her pokeballs in the air, and Litleo and Chespin jumped out of them. Laura's companions followed more sedately.

"Cool!" Max exclaimed, eyes shining. "A litleo and a chespin, and… err, that's an espurr, right? First time ever I'm seeing one!"

"That's Espurr," Laura confirmed, taking the grey kitten into her arms. "And you already know Swablu of course."

"What about you Max?" Bonnie asked. "Do you have any pokemon besides your treecko?"

"Oh, of course! Come out you two!" Besides the green lizard appeared a small white figure with a green head.

"Oh, a ralts!" Laura exclaimed. "They're such cuties, you're lucky!"

"Yes," Bonnie immediately agreed, "Ralts is really really cute!" She rushed to the little pokemon, engulfing it in a big hug. The ralts was startled, but it did not try to break loose.

"Ralts was my very first pokemon," Max said. "We met years ago, when I was too young to legally be a trainer, and I promised him I'd come back for him as soon as I could so we could travel together. So I did, thought the traveling part didn't happen as soon as we hoped. One day I'll swap you that story for the one about how you two met!"

"Oh, it was the same for me and Dedenne," Bonnie said, "except my big brother caught it for me. So we've been together for years, though I'm only now officially his trainer!'

Max and Ralts looked at each other. "I never even thought of that possibility," Max said at last in a wondering tone. "And neither did May, for that matter! But then, at the time it was important for Ralts to stay with his family too."

xxx

"So," Bonnie asked later, as they got out of the pokemon centre. "Where is Violet City? That's a very nice name by the way! Do you think it's because they have lots of violets there? Or maybe they like violet pokemon? Imagine a place where all pokemon are violet, how cool would that be?"

"You don't know Johto's geography at all?" Max asked incredulously. "How were you going to move around then? Violet City is north from here. It should take us a few days to get there." He smirked, and produced a little flat device from his pocket. "With this, I can always tell where I am and where I need to go! That's the very latest version of the pokenav, a gift from my sister when she heard I was going on my trainer's journey at last!"

"Hey great! It's a good thing we're with you then, we're never going to get lost!"

"Err, hopefully," Max replied cautiously, remembering another journey where the pokenav hadn't stopped him and his friends from losing their way regularly. "Not between here and Violet City anyway, the land is supposed to be mostly flat and there are villages everywhere. But I'm sorry to tell you Bonnie, I don't think there are more violet pokemon in Violet City than anywhere else."

"That's a shame, that would have been so neat. Oh well. So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Bonnie shouted, running ahead.

"Is she always so enthusiastic?" Max asked Laura, bemused.

"Yeah, most of the time. Come on, we'll lose her if we don't follow quickly!"

The next three days were good, and they travelled quickly. They stayed in a pokemon centre and a dedicated shelter the first two nights, arriving early so that Max and Bonnie could have more time to train with their pokemon. Bonnie had suggested that they practice against each other, and Laura had wanted to watch, but Max asked them not to, as his treecko did not like to battle when there were spectators. An issue he was still working on, he admitted when both girls sent him slightly incredulous looks. One could hardly battle a gym leader without anyone watching, be it only the referee, after all! So Bonnie trained with her own companions in the meanwhile, while Laura tried to design some fun routines with Swablu and Espurr.

The weather mostly cooperated on those early days, though the second day was really cloudy, and the three companions feared they would get rained on. But the rain nicely waited until they had found shelter for the night, and the third day turned out to be quite sunny. As the afternoon wore on, they noticed that that area of the road was getting quite deserted: little traffic, and few houses. Obviously, the region directly before Violet City was more sparsely populated than they had thought.

"Max, where is the next pokemon centre?" Laura asked, looking at the declining sun.

"Hmm, let me check," he answered, taking his pokenav out of his pocket. "It's quite a long way away, unfortunately. I guess that means we're camping out tonight."

"Our first camp together! I'm sure that will be fun!" Bonnie commented with a big smile.

The three of them had already discussed the possibility. It turned out Max had some camping gear too, and between them, they should be able to be quite comfy on those occasions where shelter was unavailable.

"There is a stream ahead, we should reach it in about an hour. We could turn at the bridge and set camp on its bank, what do you think?" Max suggested, still perusing the map.

"A stream is good," Laura answered. "If we're right next to water you won't have to carry it very far for my cooking!"

Max had already confessed that he was no better in the kitchen than Bonnie, so Laura had been elected cook-in-chief by default. She had agreed with good humor, warning her friends that if she cooked, they would do the carrying and washing though! Bonnie had offered to help with pokemon food, she was better with it than with human food. Especially poffles, which she had practiced with Serena: it was fun to do, and it would be useful to know if she decided to become a performer.

A bit more than an hour later, the stream was in sight. It was a pretty big creek, bouncing between boulders and frosting their crests. A wooden bridge went over it. The three friends crossed, then, leaving the road, turned upstream at Bonnie's suggestion. After a few minutes, they came to a calmer part of the creek: a collapsed tree was acting as a dam, forming an inviting shallow pool, and a big weeping willow was screening the area, providing some privacy.

"That looks perfect for a camp!" Bonnie exclaimed.

Laura and Max agreed enthusiastically, also seeing the potential of the place.

"Laura, I'll set up our tent, you get right to cooking please, I'm hungry!" Bonnie pleaded.

"Fine, if Max brings me some water I'll get started. Espurr, Swablu, come out! Dinner isn't ready yet, but you can play while I'm preparing everything. Look how pretty it is here!"

"Espurr!"

"…blu!"

"Oh good idea, let's get everyone out!" Bonnie agreed.

xxx

Soon after, Chespin, Dedenne, Swablu and Ralts were chasing each other around the willow, while Litleo was trying to get Espurr in a mock battle. He did not succeed, but Treecko obliged, pouncing on him from behind. Bonnie, who was taking her tent out of its bag, laughed.

"Your treecko isn't shy at all, actually. I thought he would be."

"No, as long as he thinks he's playing he doesn't hesitate to be a bit forward. It's when he thinks it's a formal battle that he starts getting nervous. We're still working on that. Hey, that's a very funny-looking tent you have. Is that supposed to be a shellder?"

"Yes it is. I think it's cute" Bonnie replied defensively. "But hey, if you want help training, I'm all for it. How about a battle before dinner, if Laura doesn't need us? Treecko shouldn't be too nervous if it's just amongst us, right?"

"Hmm, ok, you've got a deal! Let's finish this quickly."

Laura, consulted, had no problems with her friends training together before dinner.

"It will be ready in about thirty minutes though, so keep it short!"

"Great! So Bonnie, I'll choose Treecko obviously. What about you?"

"Well, I was thinking Litleo, since those two had started mock-battling on their own, but you'd have the type disadvantage, it might not be so great for Treecko. Though the other two might kill me if I make them battle on an empty stomach!"

"Litleo it is, then."

At their trainers' call, both pokemon stopped playing around and ran up to them with an inquisitive air.

"How would you like to battle for real?" Bonnie asked.

Litleo was immediately enthusiastic, but Treecko appeared more unsure of himself. He glanced at Bonnie, then Max.

"Tree?"

"Hey don't worry Treecko, you'll do great! And you were already battling with Litleo earlier, how is it different?"

The little lizard seemed to consider that carefully, then nodded.

"Alright, we're ready!"

"You can start," Bonnie offered generously.

"Ok, thanks! Treecko, bullet seed!"

"Litleo, counter with ember, then follow it up with headbutt!"

The lion cub was quick on his feet, and Treecko was bowled over. He got back on his feet immediately, but Max could see that his little friend was shaken by the attack. He went on quickly, before Treecko could get more uneasy:

"Ok Treecko, let's continue! Do bullet seed again, and follow with quick attack!"

"Litleo, dodge it, then fire spin!"

Treecko was quicker this time, and a few bullets managed to find Litleo, but did little damage. The little lion responded with flames, but Treecko dodged them all.

"Fire spin again, and turn on yourself this time!" The manoeuver surprised both Max and Treecko, and the green lizard was seared badly before he could get away. He was projected again the ground and did not get up. Bonnie immediately signaled for Litleo to stop.

"Oh Treecko, are you alright?" Max had immediately run to his friend.

"I'm sorry", Bonnie said contritely, "I got carried away…"

"Not your fault, I presumed too much of Treecko. He just wasn't up to this kind of battle yet."

"Is he alright?" Laura asked. She had followed the battle from afar, and was just coming to get her friends for dinner when Treecko got hurt.

"He will be, but I wish I had something for those burns. There is no pokemon centre nearby, unfortunately."

"Hey, I have some rawst berries!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly, remembering. "I'll get one immediately!"

Patiently, Max coaxed his treecko into eating the light-blue berry. The little pokemon grimaced: it seemed like the rawst berry was too bitter for his liking. But its effect was spectacular, and a few minutes later Treecko seemed none the worse for wear. Max seemed relieved.

"I'm glad you had the berries! Thanks Bonnie."

"Yeah, that berry was great," Laura agreed. "I don't know much about berries, but I want to learn, they're even more useful than I thought! I'll ask Nurse Joy to give me an introductory lesson at the next pokemon centre. And we should make sure we always have some of the most useful ones with us."

Her friends agreed.

"Well then, since everyone is alright now, let's have dinner, it's getting cold."

xxx

"You look worried," Bonnie said, sitting herself next to Max.

It was later in the evening. Dinner had been gulfed down by both humans and pokemon, the dishes had been done, and Laura had already retired for the night. Bonnie had been going to do the same when she noticed that Max was still up, watching the flow of the stream with a very faraway expression on his face. He almost jumped at her voice, not having heard her approach, then glanced towards the base of the willow, where all their pokemon had found comfy spots and were sleeping peacefully.

"I'm worried about the gym battle," he finally confessed after some hesitation. "Especially with Treecko. Not only is he still very unsure of himself when he battles, but the Violet City gym leader favours flying-type pokemon, so he's going to be at a disadvantage from the start."

"Well, type-advantage isn't everything," Bonnie replied. "One of the friends who I traveled with before often used type combinations that didn't look too smart on paper, and with some innovative strategies he managed to win a lot of battles this way."

"True," Max agreed, thinking about his friend Ash.

"As for Treecko, I think he just needs more training, and in different situations. Tell you what, let's stop for a few days at the next pokemon centre, so you have more time for practice. I could certainly use the time too, for that matter! And you should ask Laura to help as well, her swablu would be a good training partner if the violet city gym is a flying type one."

The blond girl fell silent for a minute.

"You seem well informed on the Johto region," she said at last. "Me, I'm just here on a whim, really. I still don't really know what I should do."

"Well, maybe a good battle will clarify things up?"

"Yeah, maybe it will." She got up. "Good night Max."

"Good night Bonnie, and thanks for the pep talk. I needed it."

"Don't mention it."

 _END OF CHAPTER_

 _So, it again took me much longer than I wanted to finish this chapter. No promises as to when you'll get the next one, I learned my lesson. But I'll do my best._

 _I noticed no one answered my question from last chapter, which pokemon would be Max's second companion. Was it because it was too obvious? I agree, Ralts was not much of a surprise. So let's up the ante a little bit, shall we? How about this: which pokemon is going to be the first to join the three friends on their journey? And who is going to catch it?_


	11. A mysterious disappearance

**A mysterious disappearance**

Max sighed. One week already since the three companions had stopped at the Lily Creek pokemon centre, the last one before Violet City, so that Bonnie and Max could finish training for their upcoming gym battle. So far, it had not gone so well. Well, that was not entirely true: Dedenne and Litleo and Chespin were coming along very well indeed. Chespin had seemed harmless at first, a little glutton with a particular love for all things sweet, but the first battle between Ralts and him had definitely cured Max of that notion. The little hedgehog could be a really strong fighter when the need arose. Same with Dedenne, who, when he did not slept, used his small stature and his agility to his full advantage. On Max's side though… it really rankled that Bonnie, who had confessed to having been a full-fledged trainer for little more than a month, could beat him so easily most of the time. Anytime they did a battle with more than one pokemon, in any case. Okay, she had certainly gotten a lot of unofficial experience hanging around her brother's gym. But then so had Max in the Petalburg gym. The problem was Treecko really, though Max would not have dreamed of saying that out loud, unwilling to risk damaging his repaired relationship with the little lizard. But he was at his wits' end, unable to see how he could help his friend progress. The infuriating thing was, he knew Treecko was much stronger than he let on. But even though his green friend had gradually become accustomed to battling with Bonnie's pokemon, he still was holding back.

"You know, if you continue to frown like that, you'll get a permanent creeze between your eyebrows," said a gentle voice to his left.

"Hi Laura," Max said with a small smile. He really appreciated the calmness that the dark-haired girl managed to radiate most of the time. How Bonnie and she could be such good friends had puzzled him at first, for their characters were very different. But after hearing the story of how the two of them had met, he had understood that beneath the surface, they had a lot in common, and that their differences complemented each other pretty well.

"You're still worrying about Treecko, right?"

"Yeah," Max sighed again. "It's getting hard to not be frustrated in front of him, but it's not his fault I'm not a good enough trainer that I can help him develop his potential," he said, confessing the doubts that had started to plague him deep inside.

"That's nonsense, you're a good trainer Max. Your difficulties with Treecko have nothing to do with your ability."

"How can you say that? I…"

"Your pokemon love you and you love them, it's that simple" Laura replied, cutting Max off before he got more upset. "Give it time," she advised, and Max made a face. "I know it feels like it's taking too long, but what's a few days, really? We can stay here as long as you need."

"You're not getting bored? Bonnie and I have been spending so much time training together…"

Laura shook her head decidedly. "Not at all. This is a lovely place, and Nurse Joy has been teaching me a lot about berries while I'm helping her. Besides, Espurr and Swablu and I are also practicing a little number, you know. We'll show it to you when we have advanced a little more."

"So what do you think I should do with Treecko?" Max asked, coming back to his first preoccupation.

"Well, maybe it would be good for his confidence to win a battle or two?" Laura suggested. "He hasn't had much luck lately, with either Ralts or Bonnie's pokemon, right?" Max nodded. "Well, neither Swablu nor Espurr has much battle experience, apart from… well, you know, that business with the pokemon hunter." She blushed and went on quickly. "Anyway, you could battle us if you want, there's a good chance you would win!"

"Hey, maybe you have something here!" Max replied, brightening.

"Of course we won't make it easy for you either", Laura added with a feisty smile. "Come on, I'll get Swablu."

xxx

When they entered the pokemon centre, they found a very agitated Nurse Joy wringing her hands.

"What happened, Nurse Joy?" Max asked.

"Chansey has disappeared! She's nowhere to be seen and doesn't respond when I call her."

"Are you sure?" Laura enquired. "Maybe she just went for a walk or something. You told me yesterday that you two go pick berries sometimes, and we were just saying this morning that you were running low on some of them."

"No, Chansey would never go by herself."

"We'll help you look for her," Max said. "I'll get Bonnie."

Bonnie was eager to help, of course. But no matter how hard they looked, they quickly had to concede that Chansey was indeed nowhere near the pokemon centre. A search from the sky did not yield anymore results.

"I should go to Lily Creek village and ask if anyone has seen Chansey," Nurse Joy said after a while. "I don't know why Chansey would have gone to the village, but since she's not here… But I really shouldn't leave the centre unattended either. I have several sick pokemon who might need supervision here."

"We'll go," Bonnie said. "Don't worry Nurse Joy, we'll find Chansey, I promise."

The nurse seemed to hesitate, clearly torn between her responsibilities at the centre and her anxiety for her beloved assistant. At that moment, a young trainer came running into the pokemon centre's hall.

"Nurse Joy, Nurse Joy!" He cried. "You have to save my Sentret, I think she got poisoned. She seems in pain, she's sweating a lot and is much paler than usual, and I found half-eaten berries next to her!"

A look was enough for Nurse Joy to confirm that the pokemon had indeed been poisoned. Out of habit, she half-turned as if to call her assistant, then remembered. Laura stepped forward.

"I'll help you at the centre, Nurse Joy," she offered. "While Bonnie and Max go look for your chansey. It looks like you could use a second pair of hands."

"Thank you so much you three," the red-haired woman answered with a grateful smile.

xxx

As they were leaving, the two youngsters noticed another trainer coming up to the pokemon centre with a pale-looking marill in her arms.

"Another poisoning, do you think?" Bonnie wondered. "That would be odd, two in a row."

Max shrugged. "I don't know, but I'm sure Nurse Joy and Laura can take care of it. Let's concentrate on finding Chansey ok?"

"You're right!"

In the village however, no one they asked had seen the nurse's assistant. As they neared the main square they saw that a big tent had been erected in the middle, with a queue forming outside.

"Excuse-me, what's happening here?" Bonnie, curious, asked the woman at the end of the queue.

"There's been a wave of poisonings in the village today, my togepi is one of them," the woman answered, showing them her little egg-like pokemon, laying listless in her arms. "This travelling doctor has just arrived, and everyone is waiting for him to heal our pokemon!"

"Why not go to the pokemon centre?" Max asked.

"The traveling doctor has a very efficient healing machine, I heard. I met a woman with a raticate, she said not only did the doctor heal her pokemon super fast, but he promised her that thanks to the special healing given by the machine, the pokemon would be immune to poison from now on!"

"That does sound great!" Bonnie agreed.

Leaving the busy square behind them, Max and Bonnie continued their search.

"De- de- dedenne!"

The little rodent, who had been riding on Bonnie's shoulder, suddently climbed down, chirping excitedly. He ran towards a nearby bank, on which a basket of appetizing-looking berries had been left. Before Bonnie could say anything, Dedenne grabed some and began munching happily.

"Dedenne, you little glutton!" The blond girl scolded. "Stop that, those berries do not belong to you! Someone must have forgotten them here."

The electric mouse came back to his trainer with an air of regret. Again, the search resumed. Before long however, Bonnie noticed that Dedenne was acting all drowsy on her shoulder.

"Do you want to take a nap?" She asked her little friend. "I'll carry you in my arms then, I wouldn't want you to fall!"

But when she grabbed him, she saw that the brown rodent was looking very uncomfortable, and a bit pale as well.

"Hey, what's the matter Dedenne?"

Max frowned.

"Well," he said, "I don't want to jump to conclusions, but Dedenne looks an awful lot like the pokemon whose trainers are queuing in the square."

"Oh no," Bonnie exclaimed. "Do you think those berries were poisoned? I thought the owner of the basket had just forgotten it! But who would do such an awful thing?"

"I don't know, but you'd better get Dedenne treated! Do you want to go back to the pokemon centre?"

"Oh, you shouldn't go all the way to the pokemon centre," a hazel-haired woman interrupted. "The pokemon doctor in the main square is much closer, and he is very very good!"

"The queue was quite long though," Bonnie argued, undecided.

"Not to worry, not to worry, child, the Wonder-Healing-Machine is super fast, so it doesn't matter how long the queue is. Plus, you have the opportunity to get your pokemon immunity against future poisonings, isn't that great?"

"I guess so," Bonnie answered. She thought it over for a few seconds. "Yes, let's do it like this! I want my Dedenne to be healed as soon as possible. Plus, Nurse Joy and Laura seemed quite busy already."

"If it's quick, I'm coming with you," Max said. "I want to see that healing machine too! And to know that Dedenne is ok," he added quickly at Bonnie's raised eyebrows. She seemed on the verge of arguing that he was more needed in the search for Chansey, but apparently decided against it and simply nodded. Her troubled gaze was on her beloved partner, who was getting paler and paler.

The woman watched them go with a smirk.

xxx

As announced, the queue in the square, while even longer than before, was moving along quite steadily. Sooner than Bonnie had feared, it was their turn.

"So, what do we have there?" The doctor asked. He was a slim man with sea-green hair and a big white coat.

"Do you think you can help my dedenne, doctor?" Bonnie cried out. "He ate some berries before I could stop him and I'm afraid he's been poisoned!"

"Indeed, that's a case for my Wonder-Healing-Machine if I ever saw one! You're not from around here are you?" The doctor commented, looking at the electric mouse in Bonnie's hands.

"No, we're from Kalos," Bonnie answered. The man looked quite interested at the announcement.

He tapped lightly on the top of a big, rectangular box in the middle of the tent, with lots of little buttons. Large trap doors could be seen on two sides, and a rolling band could transport the pokemon in and out of the machine.

"Don't worry child, the Wonder-Healing-Machine can treat any pokemon. It's my best invention, if I do say so myself! Now place your pokemon on the rolling band and step back!"

The doctor activated a lever on the back of the machine, and the rolling band started forward. Soon, dedenne had disappeared inside the machine, and the doctor was pressing on some of the buttons, muttering.

"Medium dose!" Max heard him say at some point.

Suddenly, Bonnie and Max could see a golden light coming from inside the machine. Two minutes later, Dedenne appeared outside again, looking a lot better. He jumped into his trainer's outstretched arms with a happy cry.

"There, all healed up!" The doctor announced.

Bonnie beamed at him: "Thank you so much, doctor!"

"I understand your dedenne tends to eat first and think later, so I have an offer for you. Would you like to be part of our immunity treatment? Now normally I charge quite a bit for this, but I really could not make a sweet child such as yourself pay, of course."

"That would be really neat! I sure would be relieved to know he's safe from poison!" Bonnie answered enthusiastically, choosing to focus on the nice offer and not the man's rather condescending tone.

"Very good, child. Then leave your dedenne to me, this will take more time and there is still quite a queue outside. You can come and pick it up this evening, how does that sound?"

"Err, we don't really like to be parted, but I guess that's alright. Dedenne, I will come back very soon, ok?"

She handed over the little rodent to the doctor, who rushed them out the door.

"That was kind of weird," Max commented once they were outside. "That doctor sure was in a hurry all of a sudden."

"Well," Bonnie said quite reasonably, "there IS still a queue outside the tent, so that's understandable. It was kind of him to offer, anyway."

"Yeah, I guess. So where should we look now? I don't want to go back to the pokemon centre and tell Nurse Joy that we failed, but it feels like we've looked everywhere already!"

"Why don't we head over to the hamlet we passed through when we arrived, the one that's just around the bend on the main road? Who knows, maybe someone there will have seen Chansey."

"It's worth a try anyway," Max agreed.

The little hamlet really was not far, and it took them less than fifteen minutes to reach it. The entire area was very quiet, with few people around. An old man gardening behind his house had not seen anything. Neither had, further along the path, the harried-looking father trying to get his two very energetic small children into his car. Bonnie and Max were feeling quite discouraged at that point.

"Well, I guess there's nothing left to do but go back to the pokemon centre," Max concluded with a sigh. "Maybe Chansey will have turned up on her own while we were gone."

"I guess you're right,"Bonnie agreed. "I don't see... hey, do you hear that? It sounds like someone crying. Come on, if someone is in trouble we should go see if we can help!"

Intrigued, because he had not heard anything, Max followed Bonnie inside one of the gardens. There, curled up on the house's steps, a little boy was crying quietly. How Bonnie had heard the muffled sobs? She must have a very good hearing!

"Hey what's wrong?" Bonnie asked gently. A tear-streaked face looked at her. The boy could not have been more than six or seven. Dark-red hair and green eyes made a striking combination, especially with the thousand freckles sprinkled all over his face. One cheek was smudged with dirt.

"The bad man took my minccino!" He managed to answer between two sobs. "And he won't give it back!"

"What!" Max exclaimed, alarmed. "What do you mean, a bad man took your pokemon? When and where?"

Slowly, because the child was not very coherent, Bonnie and Max pieced the story together. The boy's minccino had been poisoned too (so many poisonings, who would do that? Max wondered, again), so he had gone to the new pokemon doctor in the village. The healing machine had done its work, but then the man had said he needed to keep Minccino for the immunity process.

"He said my parents could pay when they picked her up, but I told him I couldn't spend any money, and still he kept Mincie! And then he threw me out of the tent! What am I going to tell my mum?"

The two friends exchanged relieved glances.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll help you get Mincie back." Bonnie said with a smile. "And I'm sure she's fine. My dedenne is with her you know. Now I don't know why the doctor wanted your parents to pay without their agreement, maybe you misunderstood? I know he nicely offered me the treatment for free, if you explain the situation to him I'm sure he will do the same."

"I don't know, he was really mean to me!" the boy replied, looking scared. "I just want to get Mincie back."

"It must have been the stress, with so many pokemon to heal. Come on, I'll go with you. I'm Bonnie by the way, and this is Max."

"I'm Timmy."

xxx

Back in the village, they could see that the queue had much diminished outside of the tent. Soon, they got to see the doctor again.

"You again! Why are you back?" The youngsters were surprised at the aggressive tone.

"We met Timmy here. He said you were going to make him pay for the immunity treatment, but his mum doesn't give him any money to spend, so he wants his minccino back. Sorry for the trouble!" Bonnie explained.

"What? Totally impossible, we are in the middle of it right now, I can't just stop whenever you now."

"Then will you please consider offering him the treatment like you did with me?"

"Hey, this is not a charity operation. I know your parents have money child, they can cough up the price."

"That's not very nice," Bonnie reprimanded, as Timmy started crying again. Before anyone could add anything, he started calling for his friend.

"Mincie, where are you?" Without waiting, he dodged behind the curtain partitioning the tent in two.

"Timmy, wait!" Max cried out, and he and Bonnie ran behind their young companion... only to stop cold at the strange sight: the second part of the tent did not look like a doctor's lab at all, but rather like a storage space with lots of covered crates. It was not empty: the woman who had directed them to the doctor in the first place was standing in the middle, a sleeping torchick in her arms, and looking very surprised at Timmy's irruption.

"What is going on here? Where are all the pokemon?" Bonnie asked, alarmed. "Where's my dedenne?"

She turned to the doctor: "What have you done with my dedenne? Give him back to me!"

The doctor and the woman looked at each other, then laughed.

"No way, brat," the woman answered contemptously. "They're ours now."

"Give Mincie back to me!" Timmy yelled, not understanding.

"You're no doctor," Max accused. "Who are you?"

Still laughing, the two adults threw away their clothes, revealing they had been a disguise. They had familiar uniforms underneath.

"Prepare for trouble..."

"...and make it double!"

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above."

"Cassidy."

"Butch."

"We're Team Rocket, circling Earth day and night."

"Surrender to us now or you'll surely lose the fight."

"Team Rocket!" Max and Bonnie exclaimed together. They glanced at each other, each surprised that the other also knew about the infamous villain organisation.

"But who are you guys? What happened to the regular team?" Bonnie added.

"Regular team?" Cassidy repeated. "Oh, you must mean that loser Jessie."

"And that good-for-nothing James!" Butch added with a sneer.

"We're the real Team Rocket, and we'll prove it: we actually succeed in our missions!"

"Not if we can stop you!" Max cried out. "Ralts, come help me! Use psychic!"

"Mightyena, bite!" Butch yelled, seizing a pokeball. The big dog-like pokemon appeared with a snarl.

"Raticate, come out!" Cassidy shouted. "Fury swipes!"

Bonnie motioned to Timmy that he should step back, and moved in front of him. She was grateful to Max that he was so quick on the uptake. But she needed to do her part.

"Litleo, ember!" The ember attack prevented Cassidy's raticate to reach Ralts, but Mightyena was quick, and Ralts cried out as the strong-jawed pokemon got him.

"Ralts, psychic on Mightyena!"

Again, Mightyena's speed proved too much, and it dodged. Curiously, instead of attacking Litleo, Raticate jumped behind his partner.

"Mightyena, yawn!" Butch called out.

"No!" But the yawn attack succeeded on both Ralts and Litleo, making them drowsy, then fall asleep.

"Damn it!" Max swore. "Ralts, return!"

"Litleo, return! Chespin, you're up! Pin missile!" Bonnie continued without pause, her focus entirely on the fight. Mightyena and Raticate tried to dodge, but the rat pokemon was not quick enough. It rapidly got back on its feet however.

"Max, I'd appreciate some help!" Bonnie yelled over her shoulder.

"Treecko, come out!" The green lizard immediately looked at his surroundings with a scared demeanour. "Treecko listen to me," Max told him quietly. "These bad people have taken Dedenne, and a lot of other pokemon, and we're going to get them back. They've knocked Ralts and Litleo out, so we're going to work with Bonnie and Chespin, ok? Treecko, I KNOW you can do it, now let's go! Treecko, bullet seed on Mightyena!"

The attack succeeded in preventing the big canine from launching its next move, but it did not seem like it took much damage. Treecko looked like it was going to flee.

"Again, Treecko! Come on, I believe in you, I know you can do it!"

"Chespin, pin missile again!"

The little hedgehog was battling for all he was worth, but still got knocked over by Raticate. He struggled to get up again. Looking at his friend, Treecko suddenly stood very still for a second. Anger and protectiveness chased away the fear in his eyes.

"Treecko!" He shouted, and he fired bullets at both opponents again, with much more energy than before. Both were momentarily stopped in their tracks. Chespin took advantage of the moment to tackle Raticate, sending it flying. Treecko then turned towards Mightyena with an intense gaze, and a ball of energy appeared in his paws. He fired it with great determination. The range was very short, with no time for its opponent to move aside, and the energy ball did a lot of damage.

"That's great, Treecko!" Max yelled with enthusiasm. "Now follow it up with pound!"

This time, the dog hit the ground and did not get back up. Max and Treecko turned around, looking for Raticate, but Chespin had already dealt with it. Trainers and pokemon then advanced on the Team Rocket members, who looked nervous. Outside, a siren started. Cassidy and Butch swore and ran away.

"We're not going to let you get away with humiliating Team Rocket!" Cassidy shouted before leaving. "We'll meet again!"

In the suddenly quiet tent, Treecko turned towards Max, then slowly fell over.

END OF CHAPTER

 _So, how did you like this one? At the beginning, I thought I'd do a pokemon story without Team Rocket, but I couldn't resist. Butch and Cassidy are quite interesting villains, and not so present in the anime, so I thought it might be fun._

 _By the way, you can still tell me which pokemon you think will be the next one caught by our friends, and who will catch it!_


	12. Unexpected discovery, raging battle

**Unexpected discovery, raging battle**

"Treecko!" Max rushed towards his fallen friend, but the little lizard was already sitting up slowly. The withdrawal of the adrenaline flow which had sustained him had apparently caused the faint.

"You were fantastic Treecko! A new move, and so much power! I'm so proud of you!"

"Treecko!" The pokemon answered, looking pleased with himself.

"Hey, you two, I need help here!" Bonnie called. She and Timmy had been inspecting the crates. As she suspected, they were full with the pokemon that the duo of thieves had pretended to keep for the "immunization treatment". All fast asleep. Bonnie saw Dedenne right away, but as there was nothing she could do for him directly, she forced herself to free the other pokemon first. They were opening the last crate when Officer Jenny arrived.

"What happened here? First I was called for a commotion, then I saw two people in a big truck rush away. Mighty suspicious if you ask me, so I chased them for a while, but my poor motorbike was not up to the task. And now this!"

Quickly, Max and Bonnie told the policewoman what had happened.

"Mincie!" Timmy had just found his little companion. "Oh please, can someone help me wake her up?"

"I'll contact Nurse Joy right away!" Officer Jenny replied. "She'll come here with a potion."

Meanwhile, Max had returned to the other side of the big tent, and was looking at the Wonder-Healing-Machine with curiosity. It had been a very good and very efficient machine, and he wondered how to pokemon thieves had managed such a feat. He turned around the big box, and stopped at the back, where a square panel seemed to promise entry into the machine's secrets.

"The thing is," he told Treecko, who had followed him closely, "I'm no mechanic or scientist, so I probably wouldn't understand how it works even if I opened it. But it's very much a mystery!"

"Tree? Tree-treecko!" The green lizard looked like he wanted to get inside the machine himself.

"Hey, what are you doing Treecko?"

"Tree!" His companion pointed vehemently at the back door of the machine.

Pausing, Max listened closely. And understood what Treecko had meant.

"You're right, those are muffled cries! That does it, we need to get inside! Treecko, use bullet seeds on that panel! Good, now do it again, and focus on the sides!"

With a bang, some of the screws holding the door together were ripped out by the bullets, and the door half-opened. Max seized the metal panel and heaved with all his might. He felt arms around his waist and someone helping. Five, ten seconds… Then the panel broke away entirely, and Max, destabilized, stumbled and landed on his bottom. Treecko disappeared inside the machine with a gleeful cry, answered by an unmistakable, if faint, "Chansey?"

"Max, you found Chansey!" said Bonnie's voice on his right, and he turned his head to see his friend get back to her feet and run towards the big metal box. The blond girl peered inside, and sure enough, here was Nurse's Joy Chansey, locked in a sort of cage. Beyond the bars ran the moving band on which the pokemon were "healed", which really was Chansey using heal bell on them. The thick padding on the inside of the "machine" prevented anyone from hearing Chansey's cries. The usually-jolly nurse's assistant looked pale and exhausted, and Bonnie's heart constricted, seeing her in this state.

"Chespin, can you use vine whip to open that padlock?" She asked the little hedgehog, who was still at her side. It took a minute or two, during which Max and Treecko joined them, but Chespin was ultimately successful. Chansey staggered out of her cage, so weak she could barely walk.

"Those bastards," Max raged. "They exploited Chansey's sweet nature until she dropped, knowing she would want to help all the poisoned pokemon anyway!"

Bonnie was also enraged, all signs of her normally sunny demeanour vanished.

xxx

Half-carrying Chansey, they headed back to where the other pokemon were. Nurse Joy and Laura had just arrived, and the red-haired nurse was very distraught upon seeing the state her beloved assistant was in. She and Laura were making a round of the sleeping pokemon, giving them lum and chesto berry juice. Nurse Joy told Laura that Chansey could only be treated at the centre, and could Laura take care of the pokemon here herself? Of course Laura agreed, and Nurse Joy departed immediately with Chansey in her ambulance. Quickly, Bonnie and Max called up Litleo and Ralts so they could also be dosed with the juice. Upon awakening, Dedenne jumped into Bonnie's arms, and Mincie did the same with Timmy. When all pokemon were treated, Laura asked Max what had been going on.

"I don't quite understand," she said once he finished his tale. "Why did they capture Chansey in the first place? Or at least, why have her cure poisoned pokemon at all, if all they wanted was to steal as many pokemon as possible?"

"I'm not sure," Max admitted.

"Well," Bonnie said, approaching her friends, "I think I understand, but it seems overly complicated. Let's see if I got it right: first, the two thieves from Team Rocket, Cassidy and… Buff, I think? Anyway, they captured Chansey right away. Then Buff posed as a doctor, had the tent and the "healing machine" set up, while Cassidy went around the village leaving poisoned berries everywhere for other pokemon to find. This way, all the pokemon would come directly to them for treatment, very convenient!"

"I think you must be right, that makes sense," Max agreed. "Why cure them I get it, but why in front of the trainers? They could have just told all trainers to leave their pokemon for treatment in the first place!"

"Well," Officer Jenny interrupted, approaching the trio, "I believe that is where they got too cute for their own good, if you know what I mean."

Four blank stares greeted her remark, and the policewoman sighed.

"I mean, I have been looking at the pokemon here, and there isn't one single Johto pokemon in the whole lot. This cannot be a coincidence. Which leads me to think that those two thieves were targeting specific pokemon, and only offering the so-called immunization treatment to the pokemon that interested them. And even making most people pay for it! They were trying to have their cake and eat it, and that's what bit them in the… hmm, rear, in the end."

Bonnie smiled at Officer Jenny's down-to-earth assessment.

"I still don't get it, but you sure showed them!" Timmy exclaimed happily in the ensuing silence, as the three friends were digesting the officer's explanation.

Max laughed, and ruffled Timmy's hair affectionately. "Yes we did, didn't we?"

xxx

"So how come you know of Team Rocket?" Bonnie asked Max that night.

The rest of the day had flown quickly, between getting all pokemon back to their trainers, Timmy and Mincie back to his parents, and helping Nurse Joy heal those who needed treatment. Treecko was among those, but he was not seriously hurt. The red-haired nurse had declared that his state was part- exhaustion, part-adrenaline crash. With Laura's help, she had prepared a mixture to help with that. The nurse was still monitoring Chansey closely though. The usually happy and energetic pokemon had had a nasty experience, and was still trembling from exhaustion and the after-shock of her kidnapping.

Max looked up from the low sofa where he was sprawled with Treecko. The little lizard had not left his side the whole time. As his trainer, Max was so proud of him that he thought his heart might burst out of his chest. Treecko had really come through for him big time! What a splendid energy ball! And that fierce protective attitude had been a huge surprise. I knew he could do it, the black-haired boy thought, but know Treecko knows it too, and that's the most important part.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Yeah, how have you heard of Team Rocket?" Bonnie repeated, plopping herself on the cushions next to Treecko. Interested, Laura, who had been practicing his psychic move with Espurr, came closer.

"Some guys from the organization used to follow my friends, my sister and me around when I was travelling around Hoenn and Kanto a few years back," Max explained. "Not those guys though, but the ones they referred to: Jessie and James and Meowth. A talking Meowth, if you can believe it. I had not thought about them in years."

Bonnie's jaw had dropped sometimes during the explanation. "Are you kidding? Those are the exact same guys who used to follow us around Kalos when I travelled with my big brother and our friends! Always trying to steal our pokemon or those of other trainers!"

By now Laura's eyes were huge. "Wait a minute you two! BOTH of you used to deal with pokemon thieves on a regular basis? No wonder you kept your cool when that hunter kidnapped you, Bonnie! And you met the same guys? What are the odds? Did… did they ever succeed?"

"No, fortunately," Max replied, and Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"My brother and our friends and I always managed to beat them off," she confirmed. The blond girl was looking at Max with an amazed expression. "What were the odds that we would know of the same criminals? They must have traveled a lot! Hoenn and Kanto are not that close, but Kalos is a lot further away!"

"Who knows what criminal minds would do? Those guys were crazy anyway!" Max replied. "When I met them, they had been following one of my friends around for a while, their main goal was to steal his pikachu. Fixating on one pokemon like that? Crazy, I tell you! What, what did I say?"

Bonnie was looking at Max as if he had sprouted antlers. She seemed to have troubled finding her words, a rare occurrence for the usually voluble girl.

"I don't believe it," she finally said, obviously flabbergasted. "It can't be… but a pikachu? And Team Rocket?"

"Yeah?" Max did not see what his friend was getting at.

"Was your friend called Ash? Ash Ketchum?" It was Max's turn to be speechless.

Then both tried to talk at the same time, with high-pitched voices, interrupting each other so much that the result was totally impossible to understand. Laura watched the scene with Espurr, astonished and amused. Bonnie and Max suddenly stopped trying to speak and started laughing, a belly-laugh, until tears came to their eyes.

"I can't believe we both travelled with Ash," Bonnie commented a while later, when she had mostly regained her composure. "I guess I knew he'd been on his journey quite a long time before coming to Kalos, but I never met any previous travelling companion, and I just never really thought about it."

"Who is this Ash?" Laura asked, curious.

"A good friend," Bonnie replied. "A Kanto-boy who travelled much of the pokemon world for years. An amazing trainer, even if he never saw it that way: his specialty is to gain the friendship and trust of his pokemon. They'd do anything for him because he never asks anything of them that he's not willing to do himself, and so they surpass themselves to prove worthy of his trust. I learned a lot, watching him."

"All true," Max confirmed. "But you forgot the part where he rushes into things before thinking them through, and then his friends or pokemon have to get him out of trouble!"

Bonnie laughed again. "Also true, though it did not happen that often. Gosh, travelling with Clemont, Serena and him had been the highlight of my childhood. So many happy memories!"

"Same here! That's why I was so bummed out when I could not start my pokemon journey directly, I wanted to have these experiences again."

"You said that already, but you never explained why you couldn't go," commented Laura.

"I'll tell you one day," Max promised, "even though it's not that interesting. But not tonight, I'm too bushed. And still amazed to discover we have a mutual friend!"

"Hey, we should call him! That would be a great surprise!" Bonnie suggested. She rushed to the phones.

"Wait!" Laura called. "It's far too late to call anybody!"

"And do you even know where to call?" Max added.

"Oh, you're right Laura," replied Bonnie, disappointed. "We'll call him in the morning, then. As to where, last I heard he was at his mother's house. I don't have the number with me, but my brother does. I need to call him anyway, he'll be tickled to know you used to travel with Ash too! Drat, I was really tired but now I'm so excited I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all!"

xxx

In the end, Bonnie still slept, though she lay awake for a while before that, lost in memories. From the way Max was turning back and forth in his bed, she suspected she was not the only one taking a trip down memory lane, either. The odds of two of Ash's travelling companions meeting each other had already been astronomical, but travelling together, even if it was only for a short while? Was there any number beyond astronomical? Ash sure had moved around a lot! She found herself envious, a little. But then her own journey was just beginning, who knew how many places she would see, how many people she would meet? Like they did in Kalos. Yes, it felt good to be on the road, even though she still missed her old group of friends at times. She wondered how Ash had done it, saying good bye time and time again. But then, he was not the kind of guy to look back very much. And her current companions were pretty cool as well. Laura was already a very good friend, and Max was on the way to becoming one too. Maybe saying good bye was necessary if you wanted to keep meeting neat people? Food for thought… Her mind was going round and round in circles until her eyes finally got heavy, and her thoughts slowed…

"Hello big brother! I have some news for you!" Bonnie had just reached Clemont on the phone.

"Bonnie? You're up early today!" From Clemont's sleepy voice, it sounded like she had woken him up.

"I just couldn't wait to tell you, and it was already too late to call last night!" Briefly, or at least as briefly as she could, she summarized her crazy day, from Chansey's disappearance, the unveiling of another Team Rocket gang in Johto, and the amazing discovery Max and she had made in the aftermath.

"Some news indeed!" Clemont agreed when he managed to get a word in edgewise. "Not that I'm too happy that you managed to find Team Rocket trouble in Johto, but hey, congrats on driving them off. Do be careful though! I know you have Dedenne and Chespin and Litleo, and now your new friends, to protect you, but you're still my baby sister and I want you to stay safe, ok."

He stopped for an instant, and his eyes started to sparkle. "But that piece of news about Max and you both travelling with Ash a few years ago, that's golden! I'm sure you'll have lots of stories to swap, things are never boring when Ash is around."

"Speaking of which, we'd like to call him together, do you have his mum's number?"

"Sure!"

After a few minutes, Bonnie wrapped up the conversation. Max, who had called his sister at the same time, had already hung up and was waiting for her with Laura. Together, they called Ash's mother, who Max had met before. He said she was a nice lady, very easygoing though feisty at times. Delia answered quickly. She had trouble recognizing Max at first – it had been years since she had seen him, after all –but was very happy to hear from him. The coincidence of Max and Bonnie meeting amused her, but when Max asked to speak to Ash, she regretfully shook her head.

"He's gone again," she explained.

"Oh, did he go back to Kalos already?" Bonnie asked. "Meeting Alan again was his last plan, as far as I know."

"Well, he's still planning to, but that'll have to wait a bit. No, he was doing some intensive training around here for a while, undecided whether to go on another journey or not. You know how he hates being uncertain!"

Both Bonnie and Max nodded.

"Anyway Misty, you know, the water-type gym leader he used to travel with, she was here the other day, and she told him he shouldn't train by himself so much, since he always gave his best against strong opponents. She suggested he should do a tour of the Kanto gyms for training purposes. Well Ash thought it was a great idea, so he took her up on it. Before you knew it, he had won against all of them, and realized he had all the badges again, and an Indigo Plateau Conference was coming up…"

"So Ash is participating in the Kanto League right now?" Bonnie asked, surprised.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Max exclaimed. "I used to follow the pokemon leagues quite closely before, never missed a battle if I could help it. Can't do that now, of course, but I remember the dates for the Indigo Plateau Conference, since I thought about watching the final battles in a pokemon centre if the occasion arose. I forgot last night, since we had such a busy day, but that was the semi-finals, wasn't it?"

"Indeed, and my boy won easily!" Delia answered proudly. "The last battle will be tonight. You can try to reach him at the Indigo Plateau pokemon centre, or you wait until tomorrow, so as not to distract him."

"Yeah, maybe we'll do that," Max replied with a smile. So Ash could not resist the temptation to give the Indigo League another try, eh? That battle was going to be interesting! No way he was not watching it tonight.

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Ketchum" Bonnie was saying. "We'll try to get in touch with Ash after the League."

xxx

The evening found all three friends watching TV with great attention. Laura had confessed to never having watched any league battles, and Max had reacted by explaining every single rule with great detail, until he had totally bored his audience. They were not alone in the hall of the pokemon centre either: the Indigo Plateau Conference was quite the event for pokemon trainers in Johto, since Kanto was literally next-door, and quite a few trainers had gathered to watch the finals.

"Here's Ash!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly with great excitement. "He's looking well!"

"I wonder what team he's put together for the League?" Max said.

"How many pokemon does he have?" Laura asked. She was watching the black-haired boy on the screen with attention. He was wearing a blue jacket and red cap, and a pikachu rode on his shoulder.

"I don't know," Max replied. "A lot. Thirty something, maybe?"

"So many! How does he manage?"

"Most of them stay at Professor Oak's laboratory, he has lots of space." Max answered. "Professor Oak is the best known pokemon professor in Kanto, you've never heard of him?" He added, shaking his head in wonder at seeing that the name meant nothing to Laura. "Anyway, Ash's mum lives nearby, so that's quite convenient for Ash."

"Oh, the battle is about to start!"

Bonnie's cry shushed all conversation in the room, and all eyes focused on the screen. Ash's adversary was a tall, blue-haired girl with a black leather jacket and a fierce expression, called Athena. The finals began with Snorlax and Nidoking. Ash's snorlax was decidedly ahead in terms of brute strength, but Athena's nidoking was quicker than he looked, and snorlax had difficulty landing his attacks. An early poison attack was weakening him little by little, and a double brick break was finally more than he could bear. Both Bonnie and Max made a sound of disgust as the first point went to Athena. Recalling Snorlax, Ash sent out his sceptile, who was apparently in great form and made short work of Nidoking. Cunningly, Athena chose her typhlosion. But type disadvantage scared neither Ash nor Sceptile and the green lizard gave it his all: after a fierce duel, both adversaries were declared unable to continue. The next duel opposed Ash's noivern and a vileplume, and Bonnie smiled as she recognized the dragon-type bat she had first seen as a newly-hatched noibat. Noivern did great with Vileplume, but Ash's opponent then sent out her gyarados, a strong beast who used its ice moves extensively. The third ice beam knocked Noivern right out of the sky, he landed with a "thud" and did not get back up.

"Three left on each side," Max murmured. "But Ash has the advantage, his three are all fresh, while Gyarados has already battled once."

"Oh, I'm so excited I can hardly stay still!" Bonnie exclaimed. "I have to say though, Ash seems even more in control than at the Kalos League, and that Athena is no Alan."

"Alan?" Laura asked.

"The guy who beat him in the finals at the Kalos League two years ago. He has an incredibly-strong mega-charizard."

Meanwhile, the terrain had been changed, from grassy to rocky. The battle resumed. This time, Ash did not grab a pokeball, but made a sign to the small yellow figure at his side.

"Pikachu, yes!" Bonnie and Max exclaimed in unison.

The electric mouse was its quick, agile and strong self. Gyarados, at a type-disadvantage and much slower, did not stand a chance, though it did manage to land a few hits. Rather than continuing with Pikachu, Ash then chose his infernape, while Athena sent out a skarmory. The steel bird was very fast and had a very good sense of timing: it took quite a lot time for Infernape to get the measure of his adversary. But when the dust settled, it was the fiery monkey who was still standing.

"Oh, Ash's opponent is down to her last pokemon!"

It was a medicham, and did not look very strong, but appearances were deceiving. It was very proficient with psychic moves, with a predilection for zen headbutt. Infernape was tired from his previous battle, and had to concede the fight pretty quickly. Ash called up Charizard.

"Whao, Ash has a Charizard too? Way cool!" Bonnie cried out.

Upon seeing its new, fresh adversary, who landed on the terrain with a roar, Medicham glanced at its trainer. She nodded, and took hold of a pendant around her neck.

"Is it what I think it is?" Laura asked shyly.

"Yes, Medicham is going to mega-evolve!" Bonnie replied.

"That's going to be tougher for Ash and Charizard," Max commented.

The big fire pokemon did not look too impressed though. The battle started, all the fiercest on Athena's side since it was her last chance. Flames and waves of psychic energy spurted around the terrain. Ash tried to get the upper hand by having Charizard fly high, but Medicham was floating around and, thanks to teleport, moving at the same speed as the fire lizard. Some shots landed on both sides with no clear advantage one way or the other. Still, Medicham had to be tiring, mega-form or not, thought Bonnie. It was really a small thing, a dodge just a little too slow, and Medicham suddenly went spinning around. Charizard caught it with a wing attack, then threw a point-blank flamethrower at it, and Medicham fainted. Charizard landed in the suddenly silent stadium.

"Medicham is unable to battle, Charizard wins. The victory goes to Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

END OF CHAPTER

 _As some of you called it, I couldn't go on much longer without Max and Bonnie realizing they had a common friend. And while I don't want to have Ash as a central character in this story (got a few ideas for another story with him but it won't be soon), he's just too intense a person to not appear in it from time to time. It was fun writing about his first league victory, that was way overdue! Though it was kind of hard to strike a balance between too much and too little description of the battle. It would have been easier in an anime! Anyway, I hope you liked this treat_ _!_

 _Next chapter someone will get a new companion, so last chance of calling it! You can also make suggestions for all three characters if you want, I had it pretty much settled a while back but as the story unfolds I find out that it tends to take me in unexpected directions so everything can still change…_

 _As for those of you who would love to see Squishy back… Patience IS a virtue, they say! Joke aside, yes, I do plan to have a Bonnie/Squishy reunion one day, but no, it won't be anytime soon, so I hope you'll like the story enough to wait!_


	13. Challenges at the gym

**Challenges at the gym**

"Congrats Ash, that was a great victory!"

"Bonnie? And… Max? Whoa, you've really changed, both of you! But, what are you doing together? And where are you anyway?"

It had taken a few tries, but the three friends had finally managed to get through to Ash the following morning. Max and Bonnie had been so hyper from their friend's victory the night before that sleep had been a long time in coming. Actually, they had only managed to sleep after Laura, tired of seeing them, and especially Bonnie, bouncing off the walls, had suggested they should have a battle before, to vent off some of the energy (Ralts had won over Dedenne, but been beaten by Litleo, after that it had been a tie with Treecko. A victory of sorts for the grass pokemon).

Bonnie laughed delightedly at Ash's surprise.

"Long story…" she started. As briefly as she could, and talking very fast indeed, she recapped her travels in Kalos, meeting Litleo, then Laura, then deciding to go to Johto and meeting Max there. Max then explained how he came to be in Johto himself.

"Whoa, that's really amazing!" Ash laughed.

"Not as amazing as your victory yesterday!" Max countered enthusiastically. "We followed everything on TV, and man was that a great battle! Great team as well, congratulate them all for us, will you?"

"Thanks! It really was their victory you know. We did a lot of training a lot together, and everything just went great at the league!"

The congratulations went on for a while, with Ash telling them of the highlights they had missed. He was clearly still hyper from his victory and eager to share it, even if virtually, with two old friends.

"You have lots of great pokemon," Bonnie gushed. "I had no idea you had so many friends, and I'm really jealous! It was weird to see Noivern and not Hawlucha or Talonflame though, especially Hawlucha."

"Hawlucha will stay in Pallet Town for a while, I guess. He took one look at my mum and went in full protective mode, not sure how that happened. Now he's constantly hovering over her! Talonflame, well, that's a bit of a long story. Basically, it boils down to the fact that I have a friend who decided to get serious about PokeRinger competitions, but she did not have any flying pokemon, so I suggested she should talk to mine, and Talonflame, Swellow and Staraptor decided to help her out."

"Anyone I know?" Max asked.

"What's a PokeRinger competition?" Bonnie asked at the same time. Max shushed her, indicating he would explain later.

"Well, maybe, I don't remember if you've met her or not. It's Daisy, one of Misty's sisters. She used to specialize in water pokemon like the whole family, then they did that modeling thing when they left the gym to Misty. Apparently she saw a PokeRinger competition one day and realized this was what she really wanted to do."

Bonnie had no idea who they were talking about, but filed the information as proof it could take a while to find one's true calling.

"So," she said, coming back to the main news, "Now that you achieved your goal, does that make you a Pokemon master?"

Ash laughed.

"Hardly! That's just one more step in this direction, but I still have a long way to go!"

"Oh? What's the next step then?" Max asked with interest.

"I just had an invitation to join the Kanto Champion League and challenge the Elite Four, and if I can defeat them, then I'll go up against Lance."

"Challenge the champion? Are you aiming to become the next Kanto champion?" Max had awe in his voice.

"You mean, you'd be like Dianthea? That would be way cool!" Bonnie exclaimed. She sounded a little incredulous though.

"Well," Ash replied, embarrassed, "I don't know about that. For now, I have several great battles ahead of me, that's all I care about!"

Both Max and Bonnie laughed: that sounded so like Ash.

"Are you going to keep the same team as for the Indigo League?" Max asked.

"Not sure yet. Maybe. I realized many of my pokemon were much happier to stay at Professor Oak's laboratory than travelling around battling. I'll head back to Pallet Town for a little while anyway, then I'll challenge… well, all of them!"

"Do you actually know who are the Indigo Plateau Elite Four?" Max asked when he saw his friend hesitating, a suspicion forming in his mind.

"Err, well, I met Agatha and Bruno and Lorelei and Lance some years ago, when I travelled in Kanto and the Orange Islands. Since Lance is champion now that must mean there's someone new, I guess. Bruno is the one who delivered the invitation so I don't really know, I'll ask him when I challenge him."

"Oh boy, you really have missed on a few changes! I don't understand why you don't follow these things, really! It's super important!" Max sounded smug. Bonnie quickly elbowed him before he could lecture Ash any longer.

"Ouch! Ok, ok, so yeah Lance is the champion, he specializes in dragon types but you must know that already, right? Bruno is still there, his specialty is fighting types. Agatha retired and Lorelei has stepped down to go on an extended trip or something, so now you'll be against Will, who has psychic pokemon, Koga with his poison types, and Karen and her dark types."

"I know Koga, he used to be a gym leader in Johto. It will be great to have a rematch against him!" Ash turned to look at someone off-screen. "Hey, got to go, but it was great talking to both of you, and nice to meet you, Laura! Have fun in Johto!"

"Wait!" Bonnie shouted before Ash could hang up. "Does your new plan mean you're not going back to Kalos to meet Alan anymore?"

"Of course I'll go, right after I'm finished here in Kanto."

"Tell everyone then, I see it could take you a while!" And someone is going to be very disappointed by the delay, and it won't be Alan, she thought, but carefully did not say.

"Right, good advice! Thanks Bonnie. Bye everyone!"

The screen went blank. Laura, who had stayed silent throughout the exchange, shook her head. "Your friend Ash really is something else, isn't he?"

Bonnie and Max looked at each other, and exploded in peals of laughter. "That he is, Laura," Bonnie agreed finally, hiccupping.

xxx

"Violet City, at last!" Bonnie exclaimed. It had taken them two days of travelling, after leaving the Lily Creek Pokemon center, to reach their destination. Both she and Max were feeling ready for the upcoming gym battle with Falkner. Max had repeatedly announced he wanted to go first, so they had agreed that Max could battle today and Bonnie tomorrow (if the gym leader agreed).

"So where is the gym?" Laura asked.

"Easy," Max replied, "it's a big tower, we can't miss it."

"It must be there then!" Bonnie said excitedly, pointing at a structure that stood well above its neighbours.

Her guess proved right. A few minutes later, they were in front of the doors.

"Ok, here goes," Max said a bit nervously. He knocked and pushed open the door, his friends at his heels.

"Welcome to Violet City gym!" The boy at the entrance could not have been more than twelve.

"I.. err, we…" Max was stuttering a bit.

"Hi there! We come to challenge the gym leader!" Bonnie announced brightly.

"Both of you?"

"Yeah, but if your gym leader wants to do one battle today and one tomorrow, that's fine with us of course!"

"That should be no problem. Follow me."

The three companions trailed behind their guide, who was taking them up, up…

"Say, where is the gym leader anyway?" Laura puffed after a while.

"You'll see", the boy answered smugly. "We do things a little bit differently here. This IS a flying-type gym, you know!"

They finally arrived at the top of the tower, to discover that the roof itself was going to be their arena. Their guide stopped upon stepping out of the last flight of stairs and announced in the loudest voice he could manage:

"Challengers for the gym leader!"

The handful of young people who had been discussing on the edge of the arena fell silent. They all turned to see the newcomers, and a young man sitting in the middle got up. He was around twenty, had dark hair and baggy navy pants with a blue tunic.

"I'm Falkner, the Violet pokemon gym leader!" He said. "Welcome to my gym. Who is here to challenge me and my fabulous bird pokemon?"

"We are!" Max answered in a strong voice. "I am Max from Petalburg City."

"And my name is Bonnie, I am from Lumiose City. This is my partner, Dedenne."

"An electric mouse? It's true that people say you can clip flying-type pokemon's wings with a jolt of electricity... But I won't allow such insults to bird pokemon! I'll show you the real power of the magnificent bird pokemon!"

Bonnie and Max looked at each other, nonplussed.

"So," Falkner continued in a more normal tone of voice, "Who is going to be my first challenger? I'll only take one more today, so the other will have to wait until tomorrow."

"I challenge you," Max replied.

"Very well. Arthur, you'll be our referee today."

The boy who had guided the three friends to the top of the tower took place along the side of the arena. The other boys who had been milling around went to sit on the bleachers on the north side, and Bonnie and Laura followed them.

"The battle between Falkner, Violet City gym leader, and Max from Petalburg City is about to start!" Arthur boomed. "The opponents can each use three pokemon. Only the challenger is allowed to switch pokemon, should he choose to…" His voice trailed off, as Max, who had suddenly looked up with big eyes during what he thought was a perfectly standard enunciation of the rules, signaled he wanted to speak. The spectators looked curiously at him.

"Err," Max started, embarrassed. "I only have two pokemon, actually. I was sure this battle was two a side!"

"What?" Falkner exclaimed, astonished. "How do you expect to win any badges if you are so unaware of the basic rules?" He sneered, and the Hoenn boy coloured violently. Bonnie and Laura looked at each other: they had not known, any more than Max, what the rules at the Violet City gym were, since he had been the source of most of their information.

"I won't battle against you in these conditions." Falkner continued. "A serious trainer should know the rules!"

"Then I'll battle you!" Bonnie exclaimed, as Max turned even redder. She did not like the gym leader's condescending tone, and wanted to take him down a notch or two. "Will you accept my challenge?"

"If you are able to follow this gym's rules, then I will battle you," Falkner announced after a few seconds' hesitation. Max walked off the arena in ignominy, and Bonnie took his place, fire in her eyes. As Max sat down next to Laura, she struggled for something to say, but feared any expressed sympathy would be misunderstood as pity, so held her tongue. Max's face had turned to marble, and he resolutely fixed a point straight ahead.

xxx

Arthur went down the rules again, with no interruption this time.

"Dedenne, let's start this together!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"And my first pokemon will be… Noctowl!" Falkner declared. "Do not believe that it will be easy just because Noctowl is a flying-type, I warn you! My birds are superbly trained to handle all opponents, even electric ones!"

The battle began. Noctowl had a good range of flying moves, but was not very quick, and Bonnie used Dedenne's speed to her advantage. Despite Falkner's words, his first bird pokemon seemed decidedly the worst for wear after Dedenne managed to place two well-timed thundershock attacks. Before it could recover, she followed it up with tackle, then an extra-strong nuzzle, and Noctowl fainted.

"Noctowl is unable to battle, Dedenne wins!" Arthur announced.

"You won't win so easily next time!" Falkner growled. "Go, Dodrio!"

Bonnie decided to continue with Dedenne, hoping to also quickly weaken the running bird with electric moves. But Dodrio was pretty quick, deflecting Dedenne's first attempts, and its three heads were quite vicious. Her beloved rodent was the recipient of a three-pronged peak attack, and he went flying several meters away.

"No!" Bonnie yelled. "Dedenne, get up!" The valiant mouse responded to her call, though his movements were none too steady. "Nuzzle!" This time, the attack landed, but Dedenne could not stop a second peak attack closely followed by a headbutt. He went waltzing again, and did not get up when he hit the ground. Bonnie ran to gather him up in her arms. "You did great Dedenne, thank you! Chespin, it's your turn!"

Falkner did not look very impressed by the grass-hedgehog, but Bonnie had a strategy in mind. "Chespin, wait until Dodrio comes close! Wait for it… and… now! Jump on its back, and use vine whip on its heads, then hang on!" The big bird was startled and tried to get rid of its little opponent, running and jumping around at top speed, but Chespin hung on for dear life. "Use pin missile!" At point blank, the attack did quite a lot of damage. Meanwhile, Falkner was trying to get Dodrio to listen to him again. The three-headed bird finally slowed down enough to be receptive to its trainer's orders, though it was breathing hard from the exertions. "You still have a free head, use peak!" Falkner shouted, as Bonnie yelled "Use pin missile again!" The attacks made Dodrio stumble and Chespin release his grip on it. Both pokemon went, and stayed, down.

"Well well, I see I should not underestimate grass types either," Falkner laconically commented. "But this battle is far from over. Bird pokemon will surprise you yet! Fearow, you bear my hopes!"

"Come on Litleo, let's win this!"

Fearow was quick, and Bonnie realized quite soon that contact moves were not going to succeed. But Litleo was determined, and quite nimble himself. His fire spin was now a high-precision weapon, and served as a good shield as well. Several times, its opponent had to break its own attack for fear of getting singed. Twice, the fire spirals caught it, though it flew out of the fire with little damage. Neither adversary seemed to have a strong advantage over the other, and Max and Laura started to wonder if it would not be a matter of who tired first, and who would make the first mistake. It proved to be Fearow: Falkner, looking to break the pace of the duel, ordered it to use steel wing, and it came quite low at Litleo, low enough that another well-placed fire spin knocked it off the air. Bonnie quickly had Litleo follow it with fire fang, then headbutt before Fearow could take off again, and that was that. A few minutes later, she stood in the middle of the arena, shaking Falkner's hand as he gave her the Zephyr badge, hardly realizing she really had won her first badge! Laura ran to congratulate her, and both girls did a victory reel, quite exhilarated.

xxx

When they both looked around for Max however, he was nowhere to be seen. Setting aside the euphoric victory feelings, Bonnie set out to find him, with Laura at her side. He turned out to be back at the Violet City pokemon centre, where they had left their bags before going to look for the gym. Ralts was at his side. One look was enough to see that he was still pretty upset from the setback at the gym, and Falkner's mockeries.

"Hey Max, there you are! Don't take it too hard, it's alright, everyone makes mistakes…" She started to say.

"Not in front of a gym leader and all his hangers-on!" Max replied brusquely, interrupting her. "Well, that turned out to your advantage, didn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I noticed you did not waste any time before replacing me, did you?"

"Hey, what should I have done?" Bonnie protested. "I had the three pokemon Falkner insisted upon, and he was available."

"Well that was convenient indeed, you got to go first like you obviously wished. Lucky for you!" Max's sarcasm could have cut steel. "Tell me Bonnie, did YOU know about the three pokemon rule, and thought it was a good way to get one over on me?" He accused.

"What?" Bonnie was incredulous. "You were my only source of information on the Violet city gym, you idiot! How could I have known? Of all the asinine things to say…"

"Oh, so now you're calling me an ass? Let me tell you…"

What Max wanted to say went unheard, as Laura had had enough.

"Stop it you two!" She yelled. "You're acting like five years-old! So you made a mistake Max. What about it? It happens to me all the time. You got reamed for it, that was not very nice on Falkner's side, but there is no reason to take it out on Bonnie! And Bonnie, try to be a bit more patient and understanding, mockery hurts and it can be hard to take. I should know."

The scolding, delivered in a passionate voice, left both Max and Bonnie speechless. They were not accustomed to such fire coming from their usually quiet friend. Silence fell.

"You know," Bonnie said tentatively after a while, "The reason I really wanted to battle Falkner today was because his righteous attitude towards you had annoyed me, and I wanted to take him down a notch for your sake."

"Oh," Max said in a small voice, looking everywhere but at her. "I hadn't seen it like this." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I latched at you just before. I guess I really am the idiot you said I was. Will you forgive me?"

It was not in Bonnie's nature to hold grudges. "Of course I will. But I reserve the right to call you an idiot again if I think you're acting like one. Deal?" She extended her hand.

"Deal," Max replied, shaking it. "And Laura, thanks for the reality-check. You're a true friend!"

"Yes you are," Bonnie agreed, as the dark-haired girl coloured. "Say Max, would you like a battle as soon as my pokemon are alright again? It always made Ash feel better, it might work for you too! But first, I want to bring them all to Nurse Joy for a health check, and let them rest for a bit."

"I'd love to, but yeah, it can wait. And congrats on your first badge! I mean it, I'm glad you won."

"Oh heck, I'll battle you now Max," Laura offered. She smiled: "I'm still annoyed at you, so I'm hoping that'll help my fighting spirit…"

Max laughed and accepted the offer. Bonnie went into the pokemon centre to leave her pokemon into Nurse Joy's care. The fight between the two Hoenn friends was pretty unequal, Ralts and Treecko made short work of Swablu and Espurr, but it did restore Max's spirits a lot.

"Hey, thanks for the battle. Say, I never noticed before, but your espurr still has some trouble with psychic, doesn't he?"

"Well, yes," Laura admitted. "We have been working on it, but we still have some way to go."

"You should have asked, Ralts and I would be happy to help you! Let's do that after lunch."

"I didn't think about it, but thanks!"

"Hey, you two, are you finished? I brought sandwiches and Nurse's Joy special batch of pokemon food!" Bonnie's return was hailed by her two companions, famished.

xxx

"So," Bonnie said over lunch, "Next step is to find you another pokemon."

"Really? Aren't you going on to the next gym? I mean, you have your badge now. And we never said anything about staying together after Violet City…"

Max trailed off, as both girls looked at him as if he had sprouted antlers.

"Are you crazy? Of course we're staying with you. We're friends, aren't we?"

"It's been fun to travel with you," Laura added. "Don't you want to continue?"

"Oh course I do! But I don't want to hold you back…"

"That's crazy talk," Laura replied firmly. "Don't put yourself down like this!"

"So it's settled then? Great!" Bonnie smiled. "We'll have so much fun together, it'll be the best journey ever!"

END OF CHAPTER

 _This chapter turned out to be much bigger than anticipated, so I decided to cut it in two. Meaning you only have half the answer (Max) and still have to wait for the other half…_

 _As usual I'm very eager for feedback, on language or content. Thanks to you all!_


	14. An attractive proposition

**An attractive proposition**

"What kind of pokemon do you want to catch?" Laura asked Max the next morning.

"I'm not sure. Against bird pokemon, an electric or ice-type would be best. I know where to go anyway."

"Oh, where is that?" Bonnie piped up.

"Directly to the west, there's a patch of woods with a reputation for having lots of wild pokemon. I asked Nurse Joy yesterday, she told me it would be the best area to explore."

"Sounds good!"

A while later, they were on the road again. Max had mixed feelings about leaving Violet City: he was glad to see it behind him, but his failure, and for such a stupid reason, was still stinging.

"Next time we come here, it'll be for a victorious battle, don't worry," Laura told him quietly, seeing his discomfort. Max gave her a smile, marveling once more at her perceptiveness.

The road was quite pretty, much smaller than the main road between Cherrygrove Town and Violet City, and weaving its way between flowery fields. Soon, they reached the edge of the forest.

"Let's just have a look around," Max suggested. "Ralts, come out! I may need you soon. Today we're catching a new friend, if we're lucky!"

Even a quick stroll through the woods confirmed what Nurse Joy had told them. There were indeed plenty of pokemon running or flying around. Bonnie saw a sentret, a ledyba, and a flock of pidgeys in short order. She had to check what the sentret was on her pokedex, having never seen one before.

"What about this sentret?" She asked Max. "They're cute!"

"Na," Max answered dismissively. "I need a strong pokemon, I'd like to challenge Falkner again very soon so there won't be much time for training."

"Oh, that psyduck is adorable!" Laura gushed. Max gave her an incredulous look. "A psyduck? I'm not going to win any battles with that!"

"Fine, then do your own choosing," the dark-haired girl shrugged. "I'm getting hungry, how about sitting by that pond over there and having some lunch?"

The motion was quickly adopted. Laura broke out sandwiches for them all, and they got all their pokemon out for a bite and a bit of stretching. Dedenne and Chespin devoured their lunch, then set out for a bit of frolicking with Treecko and Swablu, while Espurr climbed into Laura's lap for some cuddle time.

xxx

Bonnie was munching energetically and looking at the sun rays playing on the water when she heard Max swear.

"Hey, stop it!"

"Stop what?" She asked.

"Stop throwing water at me!"

"What? I haven't done anything!" She protested.

"You're the only one sitting near the pond, so that's not very believable," Max retorted. "Just stop it, ok?"

"Hey, where did that water come from?" Laura said at the same time. She turned to her friends, who both shrugged, nonplussed. "See, it wasn't me!" Bonnie told Max self-righteously.

"There!" Laura said suddenly. "There's the little scamp!"

It was a poliwag, who had been hiding in the water and using water gun on them when they were not looking. Bonnie laughed, and her friends joined. "I like its spirit," she said.

"Yeah," Max agreed, a glint in his eyes. The poliwag had come closer, looking at their pokemon with curiosity. Max slowly inched towards the pond, then, scooping water in his hands, quickly doused the poliwag before it could go underwater. It made appreciative noises and responded in kind, and before he knew it, Max was drenched from top to bottom. He jumped into the water and continued his attack.

Bonnie and Laura watched the mock-fight for a while, then went to gather up their things. The double shower that took them from behind thus came as a huge surprise. They turned with identical indignant expressions on their faces, to be confronted with two impish-looking figures: the poliwag's, and Max's. They had decided to team up on his unsuspecting friends. But the girls could not stay mad very long, and in the next few minutes a free-for-all water fight unrolled, with their companions participating joyfully as well. Even Ralts and Espurr, who usely stayed aside during the rougher play, were right in the middle of things, using their psychic moves to make water do things the others could never have managed.

"Hey, unfair!" Laura said, laughing and coughing, as a curved jet of water hit her right between the eyes. She was, however, pleased to see how much training for a few hours with Max and Ralts had improved Espurr's mastery of psychic.

Only Litleo and Swablu had refrained from joining in the fun, Litleo because he really was not that fond of water, and Swablu because his fluffy wings took forever to dry. They were napping in the sun instead. After a while, everyone flopped down on the grass, drenched and out of breath.

"That was fun," Max said after a while. "But let's get back on track. You want to change before we go or what?"

"Na," Bonnie replied, "it's a beautiful day, our clothes will be dry in no time. Laura?"

"Yeah, I agree. But Max, I'm wondering… don't you think you've found a new friend already?"

Max glanced at the little guy still playing with Chespin and Treecko.

"This poliwag? It's cute and funny, I'll give you that, but I need to do better than that to defeat Falkner! It wouldn't stand a chance against those big birds…"

Laura sighed. "If you say so. You made a good team though…"

As they left the pond, Max could not help but get a last look of the poliwag: standing on the edge of the water, it was watching them go with a wistful face.

xxx

"So, where do you want to go?" Bonnie asked as they continued through the woods.

"Oh, any direction will do," Max replied.

"We'll get lost!" Laura warned.

"Don't worry, I have my pokenav, so I'll always know right where we are." Max hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. He really had no particular plan to find his next pokemon, trusting everything to luck. Apparently Bonnie did not pick up on that, or she did not mind, because she gave him a big smile.

"Technology is a pretty amazing thing," she said. "My brother always had machines to get ourselves out of difficult situations, it's good to know we'll have some technological help here too! Of course, my brother's machines tended to explode as often as they worked, I'm hoping your pokenav won't do the same!"

"Little chance of that, I'd say. Let's go!"

Their good spirit was waning by the end of the day however. The girls' steps were quite a bit less springy, and Max was tiring too, though he would never have admitted it. Ralts was still with him, but he was now carrying him on top of his backpack. They had seen quite a few pokemon while wandering around, but nothing that had really appealed to Max. He had seen an adorable pichu, but concluded that he did not have the time to evolve it to a pikachu. Laura had been so taken with it that she had wanted to catch it for herself, but by the time she had Swablu out of his pokeball, the pichu had already disappeared, leaving the dark-haired girl quite disappointed. A weedle, a chikorita, a hoothoot, two rattata… The only one he had considered to catch was an ekans, reasoning that a poisoned bird would be easier to beat, but the snake had had a good defense, and slithered back into the bushes before Ralts could weaken it enough to catch it.

"Chespin!" The little hedgehog had suddenly jumped out of his pokeball, startling Laura and Max. Bonnie sighed: Chespin had been known to do that a lot with Clemont, but she had hoped – against reason – that he might have outgrown the tendency. He started running to the left, and she took off after him, her friends at her heels.

"Hey, where is he going?" Max shouted.

"If I'm any judge, there must be something good to… eat", Bonnie replied, coming to an abrupt halt as Chespin started pulling berries out of a hollow tree. "When there is anything yummy around, his sense of smell is incredible," she explained with some resignation. "Chespin, stop that!" She told the little scamp. He was happily munching and did not look very disposed to listen to her. "Those berries do not belong to you! We'll have dinner soon, don't worry."

"-ursa?" "Teddy, teddy!"

The three companions turned around at the sound of the new voices. Not far from the tree, two teddiursa were half-hidden in the bushes, trembling. Bonnie immediately seized the situation.

"Chespin, stop eating those berries NOW! They belong to those little guys." At her tone, Chespin stopped in mid-munch and looked guiltily at the two bear cubs.

"We should go, and now," Bonnie continued uneasily. "When there is a teddiursa around, its mother is usually not far, and they're very protective."

xxx

"Ursaring!" The roar of the big bear was deafening. The cubs' mother was back, and she did not look happy to find thieves stealing her babies' food. She reared back on her hindlegs, growling.

"Run!" The cry had come from Bonnie, and it was immediately obeyed. Not really caring about the direction, they took off as fast as they could. Behind them, another roar and the sound of broken branches were testimony to the fact that the ursaring had decided to follow them.

"That's bad," Max yelled. "She's quicker than we are!"

"Gee, thanks for the reassurance!" Laura yelled back, trying to find more speed in her tired legs. She stole a quick glance back, which proved to be the wrong move: her feet tangled in a root, and she found herself sprawled on all fours right in front of the approaching bear.

"Missile pin!" Two green streaks went past her, and the ursaring roared again as they touched her. Then Bonnie and Chespin were in front of Laura, and Max was helping her up.

"Don't worry," Bonnie said over her shoulder, "we'll cover you."

"Ralts, psychic!" The pink beam hit its target as well, but the only sign it had done any damage at all was a small flinch. The ursaring growled again, even more enraged than before.

"Chespin, tackle!"

The hedgehog's spiky head was hard and he knew how to use it to his advantage, but again, the damage was minimal. The ursaring charged, and Chespin barely dodged her. The bear turned right back, her right arm glowing.

"That's hammer arm!" Max yelled. "Watch out! Ralts, use safeguard!"

The little guy was already running as far as he could towards Chespin. He reached him barely a second before the ursaring, and instantly created a glowing orb around the two of them. Hammer arm rebounded on it, countered, but the strength of the blow was visible, and the energy necessary to sustain the shield in the face of such might almost brought Ralts to his knees.

"Chespin, as soon as Ralts drops the safeguard, launch another missile pin!" Bonnie shouted.

"And Ralts, follow it up with psychic!" Max added. "Now!"

The glowing orb disappeared and both pokemon went on the attack again. This time, the two point-blank moves made Ursaring stagger and take two steps back, allowing Chespin and Ralts to make their escape and regain some distance. But the big bear was far from vanquished, and it looked as furious as ever. Max and Bonnie exchanged worried glances.

"Chespin, go for tackle again!" ordered the blond girl, undaunted. She did not want to give Ursaring time to launch another attack. But her little friend was tiring, and not as quick as he usually was. He landed his attack, yet got caught in the middle of the fury swipes counterattack. Chespin went flying, and Bonnie launched herself at him, catching him in mid-air and finishing on a double roll to try and soften the impact.

"Bonnie!" Laura shrieked from behind.

Her head was ringing and there was something not quite right with her shoulder, but the Kalos girl did not weaver. "Dedenne, nuzzle!" She shouted from the ground, telling her little partner that it was his turn.

Meanwhile, Max and Ralts had launched another psychic attack at Ursaring, drawing the bear's attention. But Ralts was also tired, and the black-haired boy wondered how long they could keep it up. The electric mouse jumped on the ursaring from behind and gave her as good a shock as he could, then jumped back down. Ursaring shook her head as if to clear it. Dedenne had been swift, and the bear had not even noticed him. She continued to advance on Ralts, who, pressed for space, suddenly began to multiply, in a desperate bid to confuse its opponent. The bear launched a new series of fury strikes, clearing her path from the ralts' images one at a time.

Suddenly, she got a jet of water right into her face. It was the poliwag from before, who had apparently followed the friends the whole afternoon, and had finally decided to take its turn in the battle.

"Poli poli – wag!" It called defiantly. The bear turned at yet another small opponent, snorting. She got another face full of water, which did not deter her much. Then poliwag launched an ice beam, not at the ursaring, but at the ground right in front of her. Ursaring slipped and fell heavily on the ground. Bonnie seized the opportunity. "Dedenne, thunder shock!"

At the same time, poliwag sent off another strong jet of water in the bear's direction, and Max ordered Ralts to do his psychic move once more. Wet, ursaring felt the sting of electricity much stronger, and the repeated psychic attacks were also having their toll on her. She got back up, roared a last time at the three friends, and turned around, her attitude making clear that she still had some fight in her and they were not to approach her cubs ever again.

xxx

"We won!" Bonnie cried happily, as soon as the ursaring disappeared in the bushes. She was too tired to jump around, but she gathered Chespin and Dedenne in her arms, a big smile on her face. "You did really good you two, thank you! But Chespin, please don't run to a food pile like this again, ok?" The green hedgehog nodded, his eyes big, and still puffing from the fight. Bonnie diving to the ground to spare him the impact had done quite an impression on him.

Meanwhile, Ralts had jumped in Max's arms, who was holding him up high in the air, delighted. "Ralts, you learned a new move, that's great! Great use of double team under stress too. I'm sure this will be very useful in our upcoming challenge!" He then turned to the poliwag, who had stayed a bit to the side, as if unsure about what to do. "Poliwag, thanks for saving our bacon here! Without you, we would have had a hard time making that ursaring retreat."

"Poli?"

"Yes, you were amazing, Poliwag!" Bonnie agreed, approaching. "Thanks a lot! Good thing you were following us!"

"Thank you from me as well," Laura added timidly. The violence of the fight had taken her by surprise, and she had followed it with fright, not daring to participate. Only now did she come forward, and her cheeks were burning with shame from the way she had let her friends down, when they were only fighting to protect clumsy her in the first place!

"Laura?" Bonnie said gently, noticing her friends' discomfort. "It wasn't your fault, you know that, right?"

"But if I hadn't fallen…"

"We would still have had to fight," Max told her firmly. "Ursaring was gaining on us anyway."

"And if anyone is responsible for this mess, it's me," Bonnie added. "I should have kept a firmer leash on Chespin, I know how he is."

"Not sure that would have helped a lot," Max laughed, "that's a determined little glutton you've got here! And I thought Dedenne was the gluttonous one…"

"What can I say, we love good food in Kalos!" Bonnie joked. Laura had to smile at their banter.

"All good?" Max asked.

"Yeah," the dark-haired girl replied. "Sorry for being such a chicken though."

"Come on, I know you can do great under pressure, you were just taken by surprise, that's all!" Bonnie declared.

xxx

The blond girl turned back towards Max, who was eyeing Poliwag appreciatingly.

"I think you know what to do," she told him. He gave her a rueful smile.

"Yeah, I gotta eat some crow, and make some amends!" The black-haired boy knelt next to the tadpole. "Poliwag, thank you again for intervening in the battle. You were really great, and I'm sorry I doubted your strength earlier. Now, I have to ask: did you follow us this far because you wanted to come with us?"

"Poli?" It said inquisitively.

"Because myself, I'd love to travel with you, if you'll have me. What do you think? Do you want to see Johto with my friends and me?"

The poliwag looked at Max with big eyes, seemingly thinking the offer over. Then, it spurted water right into his face, and jumped back with a double flip and a laughing expression.

"Hey, what was that for?" Max protested. "I was serious!"

"I think that means Poliwag is accepting your proposal, but you'll have to fight it first!" Bonnie told him, amused.

"Is that what you want?" Max asked Poliwag, who did another flip in answer. "Then of course I accept your challenge. Treecko, come out and help me!"

The green lizard popped out of its pokeball with a determined expression.

"Why does Poliwag want to battle Max?" Laura quietly asked Bonnie, looking at the opponents. "I thought it wanted to join him since the beginning!"

"Well, yes, but it also wants a trainer that it can respect, that's my guess," Bonnie explained. "There has to be mutual trust between trainer and pokemon, and by battling Max Poliwag is ascertaining whether Max is worthy of its trust. Might be a little payback for being abandoned earlier as well, though," she concluded, grinning.

"Oh! I'd never thought about it like this. It seemed like people who caught pokemon while battling them were forcing the pokemon to join them."

"I'm not saying it never happens, but in almost all cases, if a pokemon doesn't want to come with you, it will run away rather than fight, believe me!"

Meanwhile, Treecko and Poliwag had traded a few blows, water gun against bullet seed. Treecko was freshly rested and had the advantage. Contrary to his previous stance, there was no hint of shyness in his battling style either. "Now an energy ball, come on!" Max called. Poliwag dodged the first one and blocked the second with an icy counterattack, but it was being drawn into a corner, and knew it. All of a sudden, it winked at Treecko. Little hearts fluttered around the green lizard, and, before it could dodge, hit their target. Treecko looked confused.

"Hey, I know that move, that's attract!" Laura said.

"That means that poliwag is female, how cool!" Bonnie commented. "Good move, Poliwag! Max, don't let her get away!"

"Treecko, bullet seed again!" Max said. Treecko obeyed, but the move was harmlessly aimed at the bushes to Poliwag's left. "No, aim it at Poliwag! Treecko, listen to me!" Taking advantage of the situation, Poliwag approached Treecko and started slapping him right in the face. The lizard flinched, then fell. He picked himself up immediately but still seemed confused. Poliwag slapped him again.

"Treecko, listen to my voice!" Max told him. "Don't focus on the attack for the moment, I know you can take it. Close your eyes and let me guide you!" His little green friend complied. "On my command, use your tail to jump into the air as high as you can, then prepare an energy ball…. Do it now!" Treecko jumped, eyes still closed. It seemed that not seeing was helping him clear his head. Poliwag prepared to blast him out of the air with an ice beam. "Now aim it down and left!" The range was very short, and Poliwag did not have time to dodge the ball. Being a water pokemon, it was super effective, leaving her panting. She looked at Max with serious eyes, and he took out a pokeball and aimed it at her. The tadpole disappeared into it with a flash of red light, and did not come back out. Max picked up the pokeball with a broad grin.

"I caught a poliwag!" He exclaimed with a broad grin, lifting it high into the air.

END OF CHAPTER

 _So here it is at least, Max's new friend (and the first pokemon he actually caught, now that I think about it). Had you guessed it? When I first thought it up, I merely believed it would be a good fit between the two. It turned out, however, that Max had already trained with a poliwag once, at the pokemon trainers' school, which I had totally forgotten (I last watched that episode ages ago). But maybe it influenced me subconsciously, who knows? Anyway, you can tell me what you think it should evolve into, I haven't made the decision yet. You've got time though, it will be a while before Poliwag reaches her final evolution._

 _On another subject, someone asked me why I had painted such a negative portrait of Falkner. To be honest, I mostly thought of him as a stickler for rules, arrogant, and convinced of the superiority of his flying pokemon, but not a bad fellow per se. He has high standards of training and discipline and little patience for those who, in his opinion, fail to reach them. Max WAS badly prepared for the Violet City gym, after all._


	15. Violet victory

**Violet victory**

Though the three friends were all tired and bruised, nobody suggested staying right on the spot: they wanted to put as much distance between themselves and the ursaring as possible. About forty-five minutes later, they crossed a little stream and finally decided it was far enough. They went about setting up camp, with Bonnie getting water for Laura to cook with, and then joining Max in erecting their tents. Both also pitched in with the meal preparations, they were famished. While Bonnie set up the table, Max opened a new can of pokemon food, and distributed it in a number of bowls. Then the three trainers called their pokemon for dinner. They had all met Poliwag before, but not all had been present during the fight with Ursaring, so there was much rejoicing when they saw that the little tadpole would travel with them from now on.

Bonnie, Max and Laura were mostly silent during dinner, inhaling the noodle dish as if they had not had anything for days. Halfway through, Bonnie noticed that Chespin was hardly eating anything, which was very uncharacteristic. Interrupting her own meal, she went to him.

"Chespin, are you still feeling guilty for what happened today?"

"Chespin, ches!"

"Well yes, it wouldn't have happened if not for your gluttony, but it's ok, everyone makes mistakes. In the end, there was no harm done. Now you be extra nice to Poliwag, she really helped us today."

"Chespin!" The little hedgehog looked relieved. He looked at Poliwag, who had been eating with every sign of enjoyment and was almost finished with her food. Picking up his own bowl, he went over to her and, somewhat shyly, offered to share. Poliwag looked delighted, and both little pokemon went on eating. Bonnie went back to her own meal with a smile.

"Your chespin is a scamp, but he's a good one," Laura commented. She then turned to Max: "Say, should we go back to Violet City tomorrow then? I mean, you found what you were looking for, right?"

"Oh boy did I ever! Poliwag is amazing!"

Laura smiled, for the reply sounded much more like Bonnie than the usually more serious Max. Either their blond friend had rubbed off on him, or he was really excited about encountering Poliwag.

"Right. So?"

"Yeah, let's go back to Violet City. I won't challenge Falkner right away though, we need a few days to train as a team, but being at the pokemon centre will be helpful. I want to be extra sure I'm going to win before I set another foot in that gym!"

xxx

"What do you mean, Falkner isn't here?"

After returning to Violet City, Max had trained non-stop for three full days. The fourth morning, he felt ready, and they set off for the gym once more, only to be greeted with a nasty surprise.

"He left yesterday to meet up with his father, he should be back in a day or two," Arthur said. "I can put your name on the list though, so that you can challenge him first when he comes back."

"Yes, please do," Max replied, deflated.

They left the gym, wandering the streets for a while. Max was really disappointed, he had really wanted to show Falkner his skill, and to earn his first badge.

"It's not all bad you know," Laura commented after a while. "Two days isn't that long, and you can use the extra time for even more training."

"I know, I just don't like to be stuck in one place like this."

"Can't be helped this time."

"Hey, what's this?" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly, looking at a big ad plastered on the wall to their left. It read: Violet City Context – Come and See the Great Performances – Participate to Earn a Ribbon!

"There's going to be a pokemon contest here, apparently," Max said, shrugging.

"That's great! I've wanted to see one ever since my friend Serena first told me about them. Hey, it's on the 17th, that's today! So cool! Well, I'm going to watch it for sure! Max, Laura, wanna come too?"

"Sure," Laura replied with a big smile, but Max declined.

"I've seen a lot of contests already, thanks to my sister, I'd rather use the time to train some more."

After a quick stop at a bakery, because the muffins smelled too good and they could not not go in, they all went back to the pokemon centre. There was still time until the contest, so for the next two hours, Bonnie and Laura helped Max in his training. In the middle of the afternoon however, the two girls left their friend behind and went to find the hall where the contest would be held.

"This is a bigger event than I thought it would be," Laura murmured once they were seated, looking at the many faces around them.

"Yeah, it looks like contests are as popular in Johto as showcases are in Kalos," Bonnie agreed. She was turning her head in all directions, eager to see everything, and especially the differences between contests and showcases. It looked like there would be three judges for the competition, instead of the public voting, for instance.

Shortly afterwards, the judges arrived. Two men, who seemed to hold important jobs in pokemon associations, and a woman, whom the girls recognised instantly: Violet City's Nurse Joy. A second woman, with blond curly hair, came up on stage directly after the judges. She was very energetic, and her address to the hall left the public quite enthusiast.

"Oh," Bonnie said suddenly, "I almost forgot." She called up Litleo and Chespin. "I'm sure you guys will have fun watching this too!" She took Chespin on her knees, put Litleo next to her, and Dedenne decided to perch on her shoulder.

"Good idea," Laura agreed, and followed suit.

Then the contest started. In the first part, the contestants, dressed to the nines, called up one pokemon to do a routine on the stage. So far, it looked pretty close to the performances Bonnie had seen in Kalos, except, to her surprise, that about half the contestants were boys. And a few other details, like the fact that all pokemon started in their pokeballs. Some routines were pretty good, she found. There was a short pause when all the contestants were done, then the big screen in the back of the stage came to life, announcing the eight contestants who would go forward to the second round. No surprises there, the ones chosen were the ones which Bonnie had found the best.

"What's the second round?" Laura asked.

"I don't know, actually. Serena said something about being paired with another contestant and the one who won going to a semi-final, then a final round, but I'm not clear on what's expected at this point. Maybe you alternate your routine with your opponent's?"

The contestants were indeed paired up, and the first ones came up on stage. Again, it was one pokemon only per contestant, though the girls noted that both had decided to change their partners for this second round. A marill on one side, which both girls found adorable, and a noctowl on the other. On the screen, a big clock appeared, making clear that the round would be timed. When the clock started, Bonnie realized that the pairings had not just looked like the line up she knew from pokemon tournaments: it was indeed a battle! And the two trainers were fighting each other in earnest. Successfully attacking or defending made their opponent lose points. At the end of the five minutes, the trainer with the most points left, the one with the noctowl, was declared the winner.

Bonnie was amazed: up to this day, she had really believed that contests and shows were very much alike, and the battling part took her by surprise. This was so cool! The contest continued, with one of the battles ending in a K.O., but most being decided on points. The finals were a two-a-side battle, the noctowl from earlier and a cute chikorita against an ambipom and a crobat. Neither girl had ever seen the bat pokemon before, and after looking it up on Bonnie's pokedex, had watched with interest as the violet team, as they thought, proceeded to annihilate its opponent's team, who were individually quite good but obviously not used to double battles. The presenter then gave the violet-clad girl a beautiful lilac-and-white ribbon, apparently her second.

xxx

"So, how did you find contests?" Max asked when the girls came back.

"It was a great spectacle!" Laura replied. "But more violent than we thought, we hadn't expected the battling part."

"Oh, are performances in Kalos entirely without battles then?" the black-haired boy questioned, curious.

"Yes, the first part consists of different activities where you team up with one or more pokemon, like quizzes, dressing up your pokemon, or baking sweets, and the second part is the performance part," Laura explained. "And the performers take part in that round with their pokemon too."

"No battling at all? Sounds kind of boring to me," Max commented. "But then to each its own I suppose. What about you, Bonnie, did you like the contest?" He pursued. His blond friend has been uncharacteristically quiet.

"It was very surprising, to be honest. I hadn't understood the battling part, from the tales I heard from my friend Serena." Bonnie replied thoughtfully.

"You mentioned a Serena. I've got to ask: is she the rookie who took the Hoenn contest world by storm and won the last festival?" Bonnie nodded. "She's your friend? You know some interesting people!" Max exclaimed.

"Well, she may have been a rookie in contests, but she was already an accomplished performer. She had earned the right to battle the Kalos Queen, the best performer in Kalos, and if she had won she would have been the new Queen, you know. I haven't since her in action since then but I am sure she has only gotten better."

"That's pretty swell. Too bad my sister was in Sinnoh at the time, it would have been interesting if the two of them had met each other."

"So did you have a good training session while we were having fun?" Laura asked.

"Yes we did. I'm still finding how to best use Poliwag's move set, but she has some really good moves. She's quite feisty though, she doesn't like to listen to me when she thinks another move would have been better."

"Yes, we noticed that already!" Bonnie laughed, remembering Max and Poliwag's first battle together. He had ended up drenched after the tadpole strongly expressed that she thought his orders left something to be desired in terms of effectivity.

"So maybe it's not the worst thing that Falkner was unavailable today," Max concluded grudgingly. "We'll be even more ready for him this way."

xxx

"Here we are," Laura whispered to Bonnie two days later. It was the middle of the morning, and the word had come shortly before that Falkner was back at the gym and taking on challengers. Max had been quite happy to hear that news, and had expedited breakfast before rushing to the gym. The girls had followed and were back in the stands. The gym leader had favourably answered Max's challenge, without mentioning the last one, which earned him some brownie points back in Bonnie's opinion. Though the way he had reaffirmed his birds' supposed superiority made her roll her eyes. Both opponents were now facing each other, ready to start.

"This battle opposes Falkner, leader of the Violet City gym, and Max from Petalburg City. Each trainer can use three pokemon. Only the challenger can switch pokemon between rounds." The referee, not Arthur but a boy around the same age, was repeating the rules. "And, start!"

Falkner called up his dodrio first, this time. Max sent out Poliwag. She looked quite eager to battle, and Bonnie hoped she would listen to Max. Falkner's first attack took them by surprise: the ground bird might not be flying, but it was fast. The quick attack sent Poliwag flying off, but she rebounded on her tail upon landing, seemingly none the worse for wear. Max had her use water gun in rapid succession on the three-headed bird, trying to prevent it from coming too close.

"And now an ice beam!" He called, but Dodrio dodged, and launched a peck attack at Falkner's orders. Poliwag blocked with her tail the best she could, and, listening to Max, managed to land a point-blank ice beam directly afterwards. The ice move was quite effective but not enough to finish off Dodrio, and Poliwag looked to be tiring. Suddenly remembering the fight against the wild ursaring, Max had an idea:

"Use ice beam on the ground!" The dodrio slipped, skidded clumsily, and landed on the ground. Without give it time to get out of the icy patch, Max had Poliwag follow up with attract. His bet paid off, and the Dodrio was affected. As the big bird looked quite incapacitated for the time being, Max dared to have Poliwag get up close. A double slap followed by a second point-blank ice beam were more than enough, and Dodrio was rendered unconscious.

"Dodrio is unable to battle, Poliwag wins!" The referee announced.

Next, Falkner sent out his noctowl. Max decided to stay with Poliwag, hoping her ice attack would work just as well against the flying pokemon, which, as he had noticed during Bonnie's battle, was decidedly on the slow side for a bird. But Noctowl proved more elusive than expected: Falkner had it follow an elliptic pattern with twists that made it hard for Poliwag to target the bird. The little tadpole was visibly tired now. Still, she gave it her all, and managed a direct hit. Noctowl wavered but stayed airborne, and Falkner smirked as Max rejoiced.

"Noctowl, roost!"

The effects of the move were not obvious, but the night bird visibly perked up directly afterwards, so it had regained at least part of its energy. "Now wing attack, and follow it by roost as soon as you hit that poliwag!" Poliwag managed to dodge the first one, but not the second. Max countered with ice beam, which hit, but seemed to do a lot less damage than before. "Noctowl, finish it with air slash!" The current of air was strong and too fast for Poliwag to evade. It made her fly off in Max's direction, and the boy jumped forward to catch her. She was out for the count.

"Poliwag is unable to battle, Noctowl wins!"

"You did not expect that, did you?" Falkner called out. "Roost causes its recipient to lose its flying type for one turn, so your ice was no problem for us."

"Good job Poliwag, you did great!" Max told her before returning her to her pokeball. "Treecko, it's your turn, buddy."

Falkner seemed on the verge of sneering when he saw the green lizard, but he glanced at Bonnie, who had Chespin on her knees again, and decided against it.

"Let's finish this one quickly!" He instead told his pokemon. "Wing attack!" Treecko quickly jumped to the side. "Bullet seed!" Max told him. The seeds did little damage, but Treecko was quite precise in his attack and kept at it, while Noctowl flew this and that way to try and evade it. "Air slash!" "Treecko, dodge it!" The lizard pokemon almost managed it, but the tail-end of the attack still hit, and he stumbled.

"Are you alright?" Max called out, worried.

"Treecko!" the little pokemon answered reassuringly.

"Wing attack again!" Falkner shouted. Max waited until Noctowl was close, then: "Energy ball!" Again, the move was not very effective of itself, but at that short range, it did do quite a bit of damage. "Noctowl, roost!" Falkner called out. The bird regained its strength, but Max smirked: he had been waiting for that. "Launch bullet seed again, and don't stop!" Like the first time, the green lizard had no difficulty hitting its opponent, but this time, it looked like the move was doing a lot more damage. Falkner frowned when he understood that Max was using his roost against him to make Treecko's attacks more effective. "Noctowl, air slash!" He countered. The attack drove the seeds off trajectory. "Follow it up with a wing attack!" The hit was too much for Treecko.

"Treecko is unable to battle, Noctowl wins!" The referee called out.

Max thanked Treecko for his good work, then called on Ralts.

"It's just you and me now. Let's win this thing!"

"I admire your confidence," Falkner commented. Without further ado, he launched a wing attack, but Ralts dodged it easily and Max had him counter with a psychic move. Noctowl was knocked out on the spot.

"Noctowl is unable to battle, Ralts wins!"

"Alright, one pokemon each, things are getting interesting," Falkner commented. "But I won't let you win! Pidgeot, come out!"

Max had been expecting Fearow, and Pidgeot was a bit of an unknown quantity. That bird was big!

"Pidgeot, use wing attack!" "Ralts, safeguard!" The pidgeot bounced off Ralts' shielding orb, but Ralts flinched nonetheless, for the attack had been a strong one. "Now use psychic!" The big bird was quicker than Noctowl had been, and evaded the attack. "Pidgeot, use agility, then quick attack!" With agility to increase its speed, the quick attack was even faster, and Pidgeot landed a direct hit on Ralts, who unvoluntarily took two steps back. Max grinded his teeth in frustration: he needed a solution, and quickly! For all his bravery, Ralts would not be able to endure these attacks for very long. Falkner, on the other side, was smiling, victory seemingly in his grasp. "And to finish this, wing attack!"

Left without choice, Max played his last ace: "Ralts, use double team!" Responding to his trainer's call, the little child-like pokemon multiplied his effigy like never before. Confused, Pidgeot flew right at one of them, but it was only smoke. It then went for another of the ralts, which disappeared on impact. For a few seconds, Falkner, who had not been expecting the counter, let his bird without directions, and it flew around much slower than before. A few seconds was all that Max and Ralts needed. "Now Ralts! Use psychic!" Suddenly, Ralts was right above Pidgeot, and he directed his move right at him. The strength of the psychic attack brought Pidgeot crashing out of the sky. It hit the field heavily, struggled to get back up, but stumbled again. One second passed, then two...

"Pidgeot is unable to battle, Ralts wins. The winner of this battle is Max from Petalburg City!"

Max stared at the referee, mouth agape. Then he turned to Ralts, who had come back down next to him: "We did it Ralts! We just won our first badge!" He grabbed his partner in his arms with the biggest smile.

"Congratulations, you earned that badge. Using roost against me, and that cunning double team right there... well, I expected neither, obviously," Falkner said. The gym leader had come to his challenger with a badge in one hand. He extended the other one, and Max shook it. "But darn, my father's cherished bird pokemons... Oh well, it shows I still need to train a lot to become the greatest bird master! Anyway, here is the Zephyr badge. "

Bonnie and Laura had run down the stands, and both slapped Max on one shoulder, rejoicing with him.

"Where are you going next?" Falkner asked Max and Bonnie with some curiosity.

The blond girl looked at her black-haired friend, who shrugged.

"We're not sure yet," he replied.

"Well, in that case, I suggest going to Azalea Town. I think you'll find the gym leader quite interesting."

"Azalea Town it is, then!" Bonnie agreed.

The three friends exchanged smiles: their journey could now continue.

END OF CHAPTER

 _Hi guys! Did you like my account of Max's gym battle? And I have one question for you: how do you like my descriptions of pokemon battles in general? Too long, too short? And do I describe too many of them? I've been wondering about that in these last chapters were it felt like half the action at least was a battle or another. I wouldn't want to bore you!_

 _Also, an "interesting" piece of information: when I started out on this journey (well, with this story, same difference!), I kind of mapped how I wanted it to go. By this early reconning, I should have been at the end of chapter 8 at this point... And that same map had more than 30 chapters on it, so I let you imagine how much that could mean on paper! This story is really ballooning, let's see where it takes us!_


	16. On the edge

**On the edge**

"It feels good to be on the road again," Max commented as Violet City disappeared behind them.

" Yes it does," Bonnie agreed. "Onwards to the next adventure!"

Laura smiled. "I wonder what Azalea Town looks like," she said. "It is a nice name, it sounds like a garden."

"Hey, maybe the gym is a grass one," Bonnie replied. "Do you know, Max?"

"Of course I know!" Max sounded slightly offended that his blond friend would question his knowledge. "And you're wrong Bonnie, the gym leader in Azalea Town specialises in bug types, not grass types."

"Oh! Well, that's pretty cool too! There a gym leader in Kalos with the same specialty, she's really good."

"You know, it always struck me as a bit strange that every single gym specialises in one type and one type only,"Laura said. "Do you know why that is?"

Bonnie and Max looked at each other.

"That's a really good question, Laura," Max replied. "To be honest I never really thought about it. For me, growing up in my father's gym, it was just the way things were."

"What's your father's specialty?" The dark-haired girl asked.

"Normal types. What about your brother, Bonnie?"

"He loves electric types above anything else. But he does have some other pokemon, like Chespin here, and also a bunnelby. I guess many people are just drawn to one type or another."

"It might also be that each type offers specific challenges, so having to battle one type after another is very good training for a trainer who wants to take part in a pokemon league," Max added. "That's the best explanation I can give you."

"That makes sense, in any case," Laura agreed. "Tell me Max, do you plan on taking over your father's gym some day? Are you going to specialise in normal types too?"

"Well, I haven't taken the right partners for that, did I?" Max replied. "With Ralts, Treecko and now Poliwag... Truth is, taking the gym over when my father retired was all I dreamt about a few years ago, but now I'm really not so sure anymore. There are aspects of being a gym leader which I continue to find really great, but I love all kinds of pokemon, I think I'd miss something if I had to choose one type only. Anyway, my father plans on staying a gym leader for quite a few years yet, so it's not a decision I have to take right now. I want to travel first, I waited long enough to go on this journey. Maybe in the end I'll go back to my first dream, maybe I'll find another one."

"You know, you've hinted several times that you wanted to start travelling sooner and you couldn't, but you've never told us why," Bonnie commented.

"My father was sick for a long time, most of the past two years actually, and I had to take over a lot of his duties at the gym. I wasn't qualified to do the gym battles themselves of course, but I did much of the training. My mum... well, she loves cute pokemon like my sister's skitty, but she's too squeamish for battles. May, that's my sister, helped for a while, she had just come back from her Johto tour. But after a few months I knew she wanted to go on to Sinnoh to have time to gather her ribbons before the next Grand Festival."

"So you delayed your own travelling? I'm impressed at the closeness in your family, it's really heartwarming," Laura commented with a slightly wistful smile.

"Well, we had no choice, we might have lost the gym! If we had had a surprise inspection and the inspector decided that the level had gone down and we didn't meet the standards, it would have been over."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"On the plus side, I bet you had lots of great training opportunities in this way, and you gained a lot of experience!" Bonnie smiled.

"Yes I did. Though it made my sister mad when I trained too much with her munchlax against my father's pokemon, and it evolved. Munchlax already had a big appetite, but it was nothing compared to now! Though Snorlax has developed quite a fighting spirit, so on my advice my father has added it to his battling team. The gym needed some fresh blood, our slaking was starting to be too old for all the battling, but my father had not been up to looking for new pokemon either, so in the end that turned out quite well. And then I found an injured zigzagoon in the woods, and my mum nursed her back to health. She's grown very close to my dad too, always up for some cuddling, a real little charmer. So currently we have Snorlax, Zigzagoon, which I think will evolve soon, and Vigoroth, which absolutely doesn't want to evolve. It's a good normal-type mix. What, what did I way?"

Bonnie and Laura had been looking at Max with a strange expression on their faces. They both broke out laughing.

"You really sound like a gym leader," Bonnie explained with a huge smile. "That's exactly the kind of talk I hear all the time from my brother and his friends."

"Oh". Max looked embarrassed. "I didn't mean to go into that much detail, it just kind of slipped out."

"Hey, that was no criticism, don't worry. But with so much pressure on you for so long, I understand why you want to experience this trip with a free mind and not focus on the gym for a while!"

"Exactly. But enough on me! Bonnie, I wanted to ask you, how was it travelling with Ash? He sounds like he hasn't changed much, so I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell!"

"Oh yes I do! Starting from the first day I met him, and Team Rocket – the other ones, not the ones we met – tried to steal a garchomp at the pokemon lab in Lumiose City. It went on a rampage, and Ash climbed to the very top of the Prism tower to try and calm it..."

With Laura's prompting, a lot of amazement and not a little incredulity on her part, Max and Bonnie swapped story after story until they stopped for the night.

xxx

The next day the landscape started changing. Up til now, their experience of Johto had been of a mostly flat land, with an alternance of forest patches and fields and villages. The next stretch, while no mountain region by any stretch of the imagination, was a lot more hilly and rocky, and they were all getting quite a bit out of breath after a few hours. When Laura suggested they stop on an outcropping to have a break and put together some sandwiches, Bonnie and Max jumped on the offer.

They got everyone out of their pokeball for a quick bite as well, and kicked back happily, enjoying the view.

Lunch was drawing to a close when Ralts and Espurr, who had been playing at lifting rocks and each other with psychic, suddenly stopped next to the edge.

"Hey, what's up guys?" Laura asked. "You should come back, we're packing."

But both pokemon emphatically refused to leave. Intrigued, Laura went to them, wondering why on earth they looked so confused, and why they seemed to be looking around for something.

"Err, did you lose anything?" She said. Gently, Espurr came to put a paw on her mouth. The message was clear: be quiet. The dark-haired girl listened intently, then: "Bonnie, Max, come down there! I'm hearing something, like a faint cry."

Her two friends ran to her. Again, they all stood silently. "…an…i…! …an…" The sound was almost inaudible: whoever was calling out was either exhausted or very far away. The three friends looked everywhere around them, but the origin of the calls was eluding them. Finally, Ralts and Espurr, who had been watching them with identical long-suffering expressions, took the matter into their own hands, so to speak. They marched right up to the edge of the cliff, apparently intent on climbing down.

"Hey, Espurr, watch out, you could fall!" Laura shouted.

"Espurr, espurr!"

"Alright, I'm coming. What do you guys have seen… oh! My goodness! Hey you two, there's a pokemon down there!"

"What?"

Indeed, a little blue form was huddling on a ledge halfway down the cliff. How it could have arrived there was a mystery, but it was one for another time. Even from the top it was obvious that the little one was in distress.

"That's a phanpy!" Max exclaimed. "Poor little guy, we need to get it out of there!"

Bonnie was already moving.

"Chespin, come out!" Her little friend jumped on her with an impish smile, only to turn around and cling to her, eyes closed, when he realized how close they all were to the big rock wall.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm holding you. There's a phanpy stuck down there, we need to help it up. Can you use vine whip to reach for it?"

Cautiously, the green hedgehog approached the edge and peaked down. He was looking quite uncomfortable perched like that, but the view of the little pokemon in distress seemed to steady him.

"Chespin!" His vines could barely reach Phanpy. He looked at Bonnie with determination, and the blond girl nodded. She picked him up and held him over the cliff, to help him extend his reach as much as possible. The baby elephant was startled when Chespin's vines touched it, and almost fell, as one of its feet slipped off the narrow rock ledge.

"It's alright Phanpy, we're here to help you! Don't move!" Bonnie called out. Slowly, Chespin managed to bring his vines around the trembling bundle.

"Very good Chespin," Bonnie praised him. "And now, heave!" The little hedgehog gave a mighty pull, muscles straining. But Phanpy barely moved.

"Phanpy is quite heavy for his size," Max commented. "I hope Chespin will be able to lift it… Oh, of course! Ralts, how about we give a hand to Chespin?"

"Ralts!" his partner responded happily, and targeted his psychic move towards the little elephant. As Laura's urging, Espurr followed suit. Thus buoyed, Phanpy was much lighter, and Chespin guided it to safety in no time. He set it besides Bonnie, safely back from the cliff. Phanpy looked at them with gratitude and started to extend its trunk in the blond girl's direction, but then its legs betrayed it and it slumped on the ground, barely conscious.

"It's exhausted!" Laura exclaimed. "And hurt besides, look at that left front leg!"

"Can you heal it?" Bonnie asked.

"I can give it an oran berry to help relieve the pain and regain a bit of energy, but I'm no nurse. We need a pokemon center, and fast!"

Max was already peering into his pokenav. "There's no center nearby, unfortunately. The best we can do is go to the next village. Hawthorn Glade is the nearest. Either someone there will be able to help Phanpy, or they'll direct us to someone who can."

"If that's the best we can do let's do it! Don't worry little one, we'll have you feeling better real soon," she told Phanpy. She went to pick it up, only to give a big huff. "Whoa, you're a heavy one, no kidding!"

"I'll take your bag, Bonnie," Laura offered.

"And we'll take turns carrying Phanpy," Max added immediately. "Actually, I'm sure I can carry it all the way, no problem."

The two girls shook their heads at Max's boasting. "How about Ralts give me a hand instead?" Bonnie replied, and Ralts immediately complied with psychic, before Max could say a word.

"So, how far did you say was this village of yours?"

"About two hours from here, if we walk fast."

Grimly, Bonnie set out as fast as she thought she could walk for a while, her friends on her heels.

xxx

"Is that village moving further away from us as we try to reach it or what?" Bonnie exclaimed two and a half hours later, with no houses in sight.

They were all feeling almost as exhausted as Phanpy looked, though they hardly dared complain out loud. Bonnie and Ralts had carried the little elephant as far as they could, then Max had taken over alone, to give Ralts some time to rest. His boastful claim had not survived the reality of carrying Phanpy, and he had been grateful when Laura and Espurr took over after a while. Bonnie and Max had gathered a few branches on the go to whip up a very crude stretcher, and the phanpy was now lying on it, motionless, while both were sharing the load with Ralt's support.

Laura ignored Bonnie's outburst and touched Phanpy's forehead one more time. "I think Phanpy is starting a fever," she commented concernedly 'I could give it another oran berry, but the first one didn't do much good. Oh, I hope there'll be someone to help it in Hawthorne Glade!"

"We'll know soon, here it is!" Max replied with relief as the first houses of the village finally came into sight.

"Excuse-me madam, is there a doctor in the village? Phanpy needs urgent care!" Laura asked the first woman she came across.

"You're in luck, we have a doctor who does rounds in the region. He comes here one day a week, and that's today. But hurry up, because he usually packs up around that time. You'll find him in the big blue house north of the main square."

Hurrying as much as they could, the three friends ran into the indicated direction. Bonnie and Max collapsed with exhaustion when they reached the blue house. Laura gathered Phanpy in her arms once again, and she rushed through the door. The first room was empty so she went directly to the one at the back of the building. There, a man in a doctor's white coat was just finishing putting his accessories into one big bag, helped by a big Blissey.

"Please doctor, we have a phanpy in a very bad shape, can you see to it?"

The brown-haired man turned around with a smile.

"Of course I can. Put it on the table here, and I'll have a look. My, it looks like both of you had a rough day!"

"Well, my friends and I found it stuck on a cliff, two hours from here, we've hurried to find help ever since. I gave Phanpy an oran berry after we rescued it, but it looks worse and worse nonetheless. Are we in time doctor?"

"Don't worry, we'll get this little lady back on her feet. Why don't you go wait in the other room?"

Getting out of the examination room, Laura found Max and Bonnie, who were about to enter. She gave them the news, and they all settled down to wait. There was a drink vending machine in the waiting room, and the three companions guzzled down water and juice, slumped on the seats.

"My, that was more exercise that I care for," Bonnie commented at one point.

Thirty minutes passed, then an hour. Finally, the door to the examination room opened again, and the doctor came out with a smile. Max, who had been facing the other way, turned around at the girls' joyous cries, and gasped.

END OF CHAPTER 16

 _Again, it took me quite a while to write this chapter, my apologies. I do this for fun whenever I find the time, and free time is not something I have a large supply of right now._

 _By the way, what did you guys think of the pictures? Bonnie and Max are fan-drawn, they are the pictures I feel represent them the most like I imagine them myself. Laura I did myself by modifying a picture I found online (because I can't draw, especially anime)._


	17. Old and new friends - A heated time

**Old and new friends – a heated time**

Bonnie and Laura were quite taken aback when Max and the doctor quite literally flew into each other's arms – well, in a manly manner of course, with much hand-shaking and back-slapping.

"Max! What are you doing here? Last time I talked to May you were still at the Petalsburg Gym. And I can't believe how much you've grown!"

"Brock! I guess I knew you were somewhere in Johto, but I was never quite clear on where. Great to see you again! I finally started my own journey, and here I am."

Looking at the girls' surprised faces, Max laughed and explained:

"Brock here was the fourth member of the gang, from when I was travelling with Ash and my sister."

"Oh, Laura piped up, that's the one in your stories, the pokemon breeder and great cook?"

Brock scratched his head self-consciously.

"Well, they tell me I'm good… I just like to cook! But I'm not a pokemon breeder anymore, as you can see. I discovered when I was in Sinnoh that while caring for healthy pokemon is great, helping sick ones get well again is even better! I'm still learning though, two more years before I'm all done."

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yes, it's a part of learning the ropes, we young trainee doctors do a lot of village to village consultations. I'm almost done in this area though, in a few weeks my replacement is coming and I'll move on to the next trainee position."

"Where are you going next?"

"I don't know yet. Wherever I'm needed I guess."

"Well," Bonnie declared, "I for one am really glad you were here today! I don't know what we would have done without you!"

Laura enthusiastically seconded that.

"I'm Bonnie by the way, and this is my partner Dedenne."

"And I'm Laura."

"Bonnie is from Kalos and Laura is from Hoenn, like me, except we met right here in Johto. We're travelling together," Max explained. "Bonnie also travelled with Ash for a while, can you believe it?"

That declaration naturally prompted a lot of explanations and stories. And Brock expressed his amazement at the unlikely chain of events that had Bonnie and Max travelling together now.

"The world is really a small place sometimes," he added. "Bonnie isn't even the first of Ash's companions I've met since we parted company."

He went on to tell the story of how he had met a pokemon connoisseur and his pansage, back when he was in training at a pokemon centre, and how they had teamed together to save the community from a rampaging gyarados.

"We never exchanged names or anything, so we actually parted without realizing we had a very good friend in common! But I figured it out later, while talking to Ash. The funniest thing is, Cilan and I alluded several times to this crazy friend we each had, and never guessed that we were both talking about the same person!"

They all laughed at that.

After a while, Laura slipped in the back to see Phanpy. Brock's Blissey was still caring for it, and the little elephant was sound asleep.

"Get well soon," she murmured.

"She will," Brock said, having entered the room after her. "She had a bad scratch on one leg, but I treated that. Other than that, she was mostly bruised and exhausted, but nothing that some sleeping won't cure! She'll be right as rain in a day or two."

"Well that's a relief," Max said from the door.

"Now let's all get out and let her in peace, she needs rest and quiet." With a last backward glance, Laura let herself be led out of the room.

"So, since it looks like I'll be staying here tonight, how about you join me for dinner and tell me more about what you all have been doing?"

xxx

Max was still smiling a lot the next morning, even after Brock departed. The trainee doctor was expected in another village, and he could not leave sick pokemon waiting. But running into him here had been great and brought back so many good memories! He could not wait to tell his sister the next time he had her on the phone. She would probably be more excited than when he had told her about his first badge, he thought wryly. May could appreciate that some people were more interested in gym battles than contests, but it was a very intellectual appreciation. When he had told her that he was finally going on his journey, she had actually tried to convince him to become a contestant himself, as if THAT was going to happen!

The black-haired boy finished packing his things. In the end, they had just spread their sleeping bags in the waiting room, unwilling to look for a campsite outside the village in the dark, after the very good dinner. The village only had one restaurant, but it sure was a winner! It had been funny to see Brock make gooey eyes at the waitress, but to Max's surprise, he did not make more of a fool of himself with a love declaration, as he used to. At his friend's prompting, Brock had explained that he was working on his self-control, as he would have to be more serious when he finally became a full-fledged pokemon doctor. And he showed Max and his friends his croagunk, a weird-looking frog pokemon who was apparently very good at helping Brock stay in line. Bonnie had declared Croagunk "cute in a goofy way", whatever that meant. Trust that girl to find any pokemon cute!

"Hey Max, are you finished daydreaming?" Bonnie's voice brought him back to the present.

The girls were all packed up, and cuddling with Phanpy, who looked a lot better than the day before. The little elephant seemed to love the attention, rubbing all over both girls' legs and almost making them fall.

"I'm good. But YOU seem to be yawning all the time, both of you, what's up with that?"

The two girls exchanged guilty glances.

"Well, actually, it was hard to sleep last night…" Laura started.

"I woke up after some time, and I saw that Laura's sleeping bag was empty…"

"I had been worried about Phanpy, so I just wanted to check on her for a while, then Bonnie joined me…"

"And we might have stayed up a mite longer than we should…"

"You both spent all night with Phanpy?" Max was incredulous, but the slight reddening of his friends' cheeks told him it was pretty much what happened. "Well, I guess we can take it easy today, it's not like we're in a big hurry."

"We pretty much have to anyway, if we're keeping Phanpy with us for a day or two, until we're sure she's alright," Bonnie replied. She smiled innocently.

Max looked at her with suspicion. He had already learned that the innocent façade was hiding a devious mind. "For a day or two? Somehow, I don't think that's really what you have in mind. Come on, spit it out! Do you want to keep Phanpy?"

"Told you he would figure out that something wasn't quite right," Laura commented to Bonnie.

"Yes, you did, you win this one! Max, I'd love to keep Phanpy as my companion, we both would," Bonnie replied. "But unfortunately, we can't."

"What do you mean?"

"Your friend Brock figured out that Phanpy isn't a wild pokemon, she already has a trainer somewhere."

"Does she really? Well, they're not doing a very good job, aren't they, considering in what state we found her, and where!"

"You might be right, but what if it was an accident? Things happen sometimes, you know that. Anyway, Laura and I would like to at least bring Phanpy to the next pokemon centre and help her find her trainer again. Do you mind?"

"Of course not! Why would I mind?"

"Well," Laura explained, "the nearest pokemon centre is a bit out of the way, so it's going to take more time than the straight route to Azalea Town, and we know how eager you are to win your second badge."

"As I already said, we're not in that much of a hurry. My pokemon and I can always use more training time. And I want to help Phanpy too!"

"Great, then it's settled!" Bonnie said happily. "Let's go!"

xxx

The detour brought them north and mostly out of the rugged terrain. They could see a very big forest stretching north of them, but turned westwards before really entering it, following a path along a little brook. Phanpy was walking alongside them, still looking a bit bruised but otherwise acting as if nothing much had happened, which probably was a good thing. Brock had given Laura a balm to gently smear on the bruises and a potion to help the little elephant recover her energy, and she made sure to give her both when they stopped for lunch.

"This pokemon centre sure must be in the middle of nowhere," Max commented as they gazed on the wilderness around them. "We haven't seen a house since we left the village! Must be lonely for Nurse Joy."

"It's wild here, sure, but it's really pretty," Laura replied. "And there must be lots of wild pokemon around, so I'm sure Nurse Joy has made lots of little and big friends. Plus, there are the occasional travelers, like us."

"Is that the building we see over there?" Bonnie asked.

The other two peered in the direction she was pointing. They had taken their lunch break on a small crest, and the view was pretty good.

"I think so, but it's hard to tell at this distance. You have sharp eyes!" Laura told her friend.

The blond girl smiled at the compliment. Sure enough, the house she had noticed turned out to be the pokemon centre they were looking for, and they reached it about one hour later. But it was totally empty! No sign of Nurse Joy anywhere. The three friends looked at each other, nonplussed.

"I suppose she could have gone for a walk in the woods, but wouldn't she have left a note or something?" Max wondered aloud.

"Oh well, might as well wait for her, she'll be back sooner or later. You want to train in the meanwhile?" Bonnie suggested.

Her offer met, as she had thought it would, with an enthusiastic response. Max was putting a lot of time into training, and it showed: she had to fight a lot harder to hold her own, and ended up on the losing side. Bonnie resolved to train harder in the future, she had found out that she did not like losing much. Meanwhile, Laura was trying out a combination move with Swablu and Espurr, which had both of her little friends going up in the air, one flying, one floating.

Several hours later, still no Nurse Joy. The day was turning towards evening now, and it would not be long before sunset. Suddenly, cries filled the air. It was a blissey, running towards the centre in a state of extreme agitation. She was filthy and looked rather tired. Upon seeing the three friends, she made a beeline for them and tried to tell them something, quasi jumping up and down in her desire to make them understand.

"I think she wants us to follow her," Bonnie decrypted.

"Blissey!" the pink pokemon agreed, emphatically.

"Oh, do you think something could have happened to Nurse Joy?" Laura worried.

"I don't know, but we'd better find out!" Max replied.

Despite her evident tiredness and her short legs, the blissey was taking off at great speed, and they had to run to keep up with her. She led the three children deeper into the woods, not bothering to follow any paths but evidently taking the most direct route to where she wanted to go. Max cast a worried glance around them, wondering where they were going and hoping that Blissey could guide them back to the pokemon centre afterwards. Though the sun had not quite set yet, the woods were already rather dark. Suddenly, quite a few pokemon appeared in the bushes, all running in the opposite direction. Bonnie, Laura and Max jumped behind a big tree to avoid being trampled.

"What was that all about?" Bonnie asked, puzzled, when they had gone. Blissey was already urging them to move forward again.

"No idea," Max replied.

"Hey, do you smell something?" Laura said at the same time. The other two sniffed as well. "There's a weird smell in the air, but… oh! It's smoke, isn't it?"

"Smoke? Is there a fire nearby?"

"Blissey, blissey!" Their pokemon guide got even more agitated at the mention of a fire.

Quickly getting concerned, the three friends moved forward. A few hundred meters later, there was no denying that they were going in the direction of a big fire. The smoke smell was permeating everything. Soon, they saw some flickering lights ahead. Sure enough, there was a forest fire, and it seemed to be raging. Fortunately, the wind was coming from their right, so it was not moving in their direction and the pokemon centre was probably safe.

"I hope all the pokemon had time to flee," Laura murmured.

xxx

"Help!"

The call seemed to come right from the fire. Advancing more cautiously, they finally saw Nurse Joy: she was right next to the fire, and seemed unable to move. A clefairy was protecting her from the sparks with light screen, while a wooper was using water gun to keep the fire from advancing in that direction. Nevertheless, Nurse Joy's face was rather sooty. As they got closer, they saw that a tree had collapsed on one of her legs. Alarmed, they ran up to her, though the heat was barely bearable.

"Nurse Joy, are you alright?" Bonnie asked. With that heat, she wondered how the red-haired woman had not fainted yet.

"Thank goodness you're here! I am uninjured, my leg is merely trapped, but I cannot free myself!" The nurse's frustration was obvious. "When I was alerted that there was a forest fire in this direction, I came to see whether the pokemon centre was at risk, and to check that all pokemon had escaped. But I got careless, and here is the result! Fortunately, I had my friends here, otherwise I would have been toast by now."

"Poliwag, come on, I need you!" Max ordered. The little pokemon jumped out of her pokeball. "Use water gun as well and help Wooper, will you?"

After a very brief cuddle of Max's leg, Poliwag obeyed. The doubled jet of water helped diminish the nearest flame, and the heat went down a few notches, to everyone's immediate relief.

"Alright, we need to move that tree, everyone. Let's heave!" Max suggested.

But their combined strength was barely enough to give the big tree a small lift.

"We need help," Bonnie panted. "Chespin, Litleo, come out! Chespin, you use vine whip. Litleo, you'll use headbutt from this side when we heave, that'll give us a boost. Dedenne, I know you want to help, but I'd rather you stayed a bit further with Phanpy, I don't want you hurt."

"Hey, quick thinking!" Laura said. "Espurr, come help us lift that tree too. Use psychic!"

"Ralts, you do the same!"

"And Blissey, you use pound alongside Litleo!"

This time, the tree was definitely moving, but they still could not lift it quite high enough for Nurse Joy to free her leg.

"We're so close!" Max growled, straining under its weight.

As they put the tree down again, Bonnie noticed that Phanpy was watching anxiously from where she had told her to stay put.

"Phanpy, do you want to help us?"

"Phanpy, phan!"

"Well, come on then, but be careful!"

The little elephant trotted gingerly forward. As she got closer to the tree, she picked up the pace, and…

"Hey, that's iron tail!" Max recognized suddenly.

Slash! Slash! The two biggest branches fell noisily to the ground, neatly cut.

"That's great Phanpy! We should be able to lift the rest now, thanks a lot!" Bonnie gushed happily.

Indeed they could, and the red-haired nurse got to her feet with a smile.

"Thank you, all of you," she told them. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't happened by. But everything else can wait until we're a bit further away, I think Clefairy, Wooper and even Poliwag must be getting tired!"

xxx

Everybody started to retreat, except for one pokemon, who stood his ground.

"Litleo, come on!" Bonnie called, seeing that her little friend had not moved. "I know you like the fire, but we need to get back to the pokemon centre now. And it's dangerous for us to stay that close any longer."

"Litleo!" The little lion sounded quite agitated. After a last glance at Bonnie, he turned around and ran alongside the fire's edge, further away from the group of friends. Bonnie swore. She was quite tired after the last night and Nurse's Joy rescue, and was hoping that whatever Litleo wanted, it would not take long. Max and Laura looked at each other, nonplussed, while Nurse Joy, ahead, called to ask what the delay was about. Bonnie glanced at Litleo, then at the rest of her friends, undecided.

"We'll wait for you here, ok?" Laura said. "But be careful, just because the wind isn't blowing in this direction doesn't mean the fire can't expand around here too!"

"Sure! We'll be quick, I promise. Honestly, I don't know what got into him. What's wrong Litleo?"

The fiery lion cub only continued to advance. Bonnie, with a sigh, started to follow him. Dedenne, Chespin and a curious Poliwag decided to come with her. Litleo brought Bonnie on the other side of some big boulders. There, they happened upon a very agitated ursaring, who apparently wanted to head right into the fire. Puzzled at this behavior, the blond girl peered into the flames. What she discovered made her blood run cold despite the heat: a few meters away, half hidden by smoke, was another boulder, and on top of it, trapped by a line of burning brambles, a teddiursa and an oddish were huddled together. The oddish was using razor leaf to destroy any debris falling too close to the bear cub.

"Oh no, we need to rescue them!" Bonnie cried out. "Is that why you brought me here, Litleo? It's lucky you noticed something was wrong! Hmm…" The blond girl looked around, searching for ideas.

"Dedenne, climb up that tree, and tell me where there is the least fire between us and that boulder!" The electric mouse scrambled up at high speed, happy to help, and soon pointed out to a spot a little to the right. Indeed, the flames were neither as high nor as thick there, the sparse vegetation having partly burned out already, but there were still some burning bushes between them and the boulder, and the smoke didn't help orientation. Ursaring, who had followed their movements with interest, growled with frustration.

The boulder itself was three times Bonnie's size, another problem to solve. "Chespin, if I get you there, can you pick Teddiursa and Oddish up with vine whip?" "Chespin," the little hedgehog replied, puffing his chest out to look brave. "Very good! Poliwag, will you clear a path for us with water gun? And Litleo, can you guide us to the boulder through the smoke? Great, then I think we have a plan. Poliwag, Chespin, I'll carry you, you'll burn your paws on the ground otherwise. Ursaring, are you coming with us?"

The big bear reared and growled, quite a frightening sight. Chespin jumped backwards and fell on the ground, but Bonnie was not taken aback in the slightest, focused on the rescue mission.

"Poliwag, please douse us all with water before we start! Well, except Litleo obviously!"

They were all drenched in a matter of seconds, and Poliwag ran towards the fire with her most powerful water gun. Bonnie, who had tied a handkerchief around her face, picked her and Chespin up, Litleo came to her side, Ursaring followed, and in they went, as fast as they could. Oddly enough, the smoke and heat situation did not seem much worse than where they had stood just before. The visibility was bad, but Litleo had no trouble holding to the right direction. Twice, flaming branches fell from overhead, but the ursaring had a powerful fury swipes and destroyed them before they could be harmed.

After what felt like a long time, but was certainly less than a minute, they reached the boulder. Chespin extended his vines, and the oddish pushed the teddiursa towards them. The ursaring gripped her cub tightly as soon as she could, while Chespin picked up the other pokemon. They ran back out immediately, coughing and eyes tearing up. Bonnie, half-blinded, collapsed on the ground as soon as the temperature went down to normal. It took her a while to realize they had had an audience.

"Bonnie, what the hell did you think you were doing?" Laura shouted, running to her friend. "Do not ever do such a stupid thing again! Damn it, you almost gave us a heart attack!" The dark-haired girl was uncharacteristically swearing, a sure sign she was very upset.

"Sorry…" Bonnie puffed. "There was no time, I thought you guys were still back where I left you."

"Blame Laura, she pointed out immediately that you were likely to do something impulsive if left on your own and that impulsive and fire didn't mix. She was right, but we weren't quick enough," Max replied wryly.

"Is everyone ok?" Nurse Joy asked. The red-haired woman was just arriving.

"I hope so," Bonnie replied. "But the teddiursa and the oddish must have breathed a lot of smoke."

"Then we'd better get everyone back to the centre as soon as possible, and no detour this time!"

END OF CHAPTER

 _Hi everyone, I know I hadn't posted a new chapter in quite a while, sorry about that. I hope this big one makes up for it a little! I'll try to post updates more regularly._

 _Three rescues in two chapters, and a Brock cameo in the middle, I hope you liked it all! Though don't worry, one rescue or more per chapter isn't a new guideline of mine, it just happened that way. I have a few other plotlines in mind, wait and see_


	18. The hand of friendship

**The hand of friendship**

Bonnie yawned. The previous day had been so exhausting, especially coming on top of a short night. It had been pitch-black before they made it back to the pokemon centre, guided by Litleo's flame. The three friends had been concerned about letting the fire continue to rage unchecked, but Nurse Joy had pointed out that the fire was moving towards a patch of woods with no habitation, did not pose a threat to the centre, and would be circumscribed soon because a kilometer or so away there was a river big enough to form a natural barrier. Plus, they had no way to actually extinguish the fire.

"But what if other pokemon are trapped?" Bonnie had asked anxiously.

"Bonnie, you did enough," the red-haired woman had replied. "You can barely stand, you need to rest. Fires are unfortunately common in this area at that time of the year, wild pokemon have learned to deal with them. I was very surprised to see these little ones trapped actually."

Their work had been far from done when they had reached the centre. Nurse's Joy usual helpers, Blissey and Clefairy, were in no shape to assist her and indeed needed some medical attention themselves, as did Wooper and several of the three friends' companions, especially Chespin and Poliwag. And the most urgent cases were the teddiursa and the oddish, which had inhaled a lot of smoke and sported some burns despite Oddish's best efforts to shield itself and the bear cub. Bonnie, Laura and Max had assisted where needed. And there was a big, wild ursaring hoovering anxiously near the front door, though thankfully not interfering with the care that the teddiursa needed.

It turned out that the little bear was in better shape than Oddish, who had apparently protected the cub with its body when its razor leaves failed to intercept the embers, and had used the leaves on its head as a kind of smokescreen for Teddiursa. As a result, the bear cub was released relatively shortly after being admitted in the centre, and it, and its mother, disappeared into the night. Oddish however had to be kept in observation overnight. At some point Bonnie, unable to keep her eyes open any longer, had crashed on the first available bed, intending to have a nap before going back to help. When she opened her eyes again though, muted daylight was coming through the windows: it was morning, an overcast morning which bore the promise of rain later in the day.

The blond girl jumped on her feet, dismayed to realize she had slept the night away. As she prepared to run out the door though, she bumped into Laura.

"You're finally awake? Good, you needed that sleep, you were in pretty bad shape yourself yesterday evening. Relax, we managed just fine after you fell asleep, the bulk of the work was done already, remember? You were really out like a light though, neither Max and I coming to bed nor us getting up earlier made you as much as twitch."

"How is everyone?"

"Doing fine, the bunch of them. Only Oddish is still under that oxygen-bell-thingy, and looking none too happy about it, but she's way better than yesterday."

Bonnie noted that her friends had found out Oddish's gender.

"The rest, well, they're rested and mostly ready for the next adventure! You know them. They're playing a game of tag in the garden right now."

xxx

The Kalos girl checked for herself that her pokemon were alright, and promised to reward everyone with pokepuffs at the earliest opportunity. Chespin looked delighted, and she was sure the little hedgehog would help her remember her promise… Bonnie then went to see how Oddish was doing. She had been impressed with the pokemon's cool during the crisis, and how she had protected the teddiursa at all costs, even disregarding her own safety if need be. Hopefully the little bulb pokemon would be alright soon. Blissey was back at work with Nurse Joy, looking fresh and rested.

"Hey, where's Oddish?" Bonnie asked, entering the room and looking around.

"Right there! But be careful, she's a wild one!" Nurse Joy replied. She had pointed to what the blond girl had at first taken to be a potted plant. Bonnie got closer, curious.

"She calmed down somewhat after I brought her some soil," Nurse Joy explained. "Oddish usually spend the days buried to their leaves in the best soil they find, you know. Hey, look out!"

Apparently, Bonnie had gotten too close for comfort for the oddish. Still buried in the flower pot, she lashed out with razor leaf. Bonnie jumped to the side, putting her hands up for protection, and got some scratches for her troubles.

"Hey Oddish, it's ok, no need to be afraid!" she said calmly, ignoring the stinging on her arms. "We only want you to get better, you know. I was just coming to see how you were doing, since you looked pretty bad when I rescued you yesterday. How are you feeling?"

"Oddish?" said a small voice, and the "potted plant" moved, revealing two eyes in a bulbous face.

"That's right," Bonnie encouraged her, "we mean you no harm."

The bulb pokemon looked at her with an interested expression, but did not move. Then, Blissey entered the room. Upon seeing the door open, Oddish looked at Bonnie, then Nurse Joy, and made a dash for freedom, releasing purple spores in the air at the same time.

"Careful, that's sleep powder!" Nurse Joy cried out, but the warning came too late, Bonnie's head was already hitting the floor.

xxx

"Hey, wake up, sleepyhead!"

"Max?"

Bonnie opened her eyes. She was back on her bed. Sitting up slowly, she groaned, still feeling some of the effect of the attack.

"All I do is sleep today, it seems. What happened? Where's Oddish?"

"Oddish is back in her pot, thanks to Blissey's quick reaction. You were just unlucky enough to be right next to Oddish, so you got a good dose of her sleeping powder. No wonder you're feeling groggy!"

"Oh, that would explain it. I can understand her though, I suppose. She must feel trapped in that room."

"That's what Nurse Joy said. But it's only until she is all better, which should be the case in a day or so. And she's hardly the first wild pokemon to get treated at the centre. Nurse Joy said she rarely had so much trouble!"

"Well, maybe Oddish had a bad experience with humans before, as wary as she is. I wish I could show her that she can trust us!"

Max shook his head, wondering that Bonnie was not even mad about the attack, just concerned for the oddish and trying to make it feel better. Typical Bonnie, he thought.

"I know," Bonnie announced suddenly, and she got up, wobbling a little. This did not stop her though, and she walked back to Oddish's room as fast as she could. Nurse Joy was just passing in the hallway.

"Bonnie, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, yes, but never mind me. You said that Oddish usually spend their days in the earth right? So they're mostly nocturnal then?"

"Yes?"

"I think the bright lights in the room are unsettling her, could we dim them?"

"Sure, that might help. I should have thought of that myself, but then I usually need the light to treat my patients."

"I'll go back inside the room, if that's alright?" Bonnie asked. "I won't approach Oddish, I just want to talk to her and let her know we're not going to harm her."

"Very well, but be very careful, you've seen what she's like."

Bonnie stayed closeted with Oddish for most of the day. At intervals, both Max and Laura went to check on her. Their blond friend was apparently chattering away the whole time, happily monologuing, while Oddish… well it was difficult to know what Oddish did, because she resolutely stayed in the flower pot. For all they knew, she was sleeping. After a while Dedenne went to join his trainer and took a nap on her lap, while she cuddled him absently, still intent on reaching through to Oddish. It had been clear from early on that they were not going to press on that day. To be honest, neither Laura nor Max had anything against a quiet day, after the events of the previous evening! Max went back to training, while Laura assisted Nurse Joy most of the day. She had a quiet touch that went over well with the pokemon, and the red-haired woman commented that she had the makings of a first-class nurse, making Laura blush.

Bonnie did get out of Oddish's room around tea time, to bake the promised pokepuffs. Knowing the appetite of her little companions for all things sweet, she made plenty for everyone. Even Chespin, who tried to stuff himself as usual, could not quite finish the pile. Bonnie gathered a few of the little pastries on a small plate and, going back to Oddish, deposited them next to the flower pot. The plant pokemon still did not move. With a sigh, Bonnie resumed her chatting, keeping her voice soft and recounting stories from this journey and her previous one.

xxx

At dinner time, Bonnie was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Laura asked. The dark-haired girl was looking at her friend with some concern.

"Oh, I don't know, I just feel there's more to Oddish's mood than just being cooped up in that room. It runs deeper than that, and I'm trying to understand, but I haven't had much success."

"Well," Nurse Joy said, "I'm still keeping her in observation for tonight, especially since the rain I expected since this morning has finally arrived. It's going to be a big storm out there tonight, no place for a still-healing pokemon. Good though, it should extinguish that fire. But after that she'll be all healed, and ready to go. I'm sure she'll feel better when she's back in the forest."

"Hmm. Would you mind if I slept with her tonight? I'd move a mattress to a corner of the room."

"If you're sure that's what you want to do, alright, I guess," the nurse replied a bit dubiously after thinking about it. "But don't you think Oddish would prefer some alone time?"

"I think she needs to know that somebody cares, even if I cannot do much more."

"Alright then, but the same rules apply, you stay quiet in the room, and you don't get too close to her. And you can stay up for a bit, but you go to sleep as well after that, no staying up all night, mind you! Are we in agreement?"

"Yes Nurse Joy, thank you!"

Oddish was out of the flower pot when Bonnie came back to her room carrying a mattress, but ran back to it as the blond girl set up camp. Bonnie had decided to have her little friends all sleep with her tonight, reasoning that it might help Oddish relax to have other pokemon around. She sang some silly songs with them and shared some more treats. She had noticed, pleased, that the pokepuffs plate was now empty, and, without making a fuss, she put some more food on it in case Oddish was still hungry.

"It's not for you, Chespin, you ate plenty already, you'll only get a bellyache" she cautioned, knowing too well her friend's penchant for gluttony. The little hedgehog, paw on his heart, promised that he would not touch the plate. After a while, Oddish's leaves moved, and the bulb-like pokemon peered cautiously over the hedge of the pot, looking in on the fun. She apparently was not inclined to join, however, and with a sigh Bonnie let it go. She prepared herself for bed and flopped down on the mattress, with Dedenne, Litleo and Chespin all cuddled with her. Soon after, all were sound asleep.

It was only much later in the night that Bonnie half-woke: Oddish had decided to join the big heap of girl and pokemon, for warmth or comfort or some other reason, and had lain down next to Chespin and close to Bonnie's head, tickling her nose with her leaves in the process. Thunder rumbled nearby, and Oddish buried her face in the mattress. Sleepily, Bonnie gathered the bulb-like pokemon to her. Still, she was rather surprised when the little burden in her arms did not put up any protest.

"Its's ok Oddish, there's nothing to be afraid about, the storm cannot reach us here," she murmured understandingly. "You're a bundle of contradictions, I have to say. So fearless in that fire, and now you're ill-at-ease with a little water? Ok, a lot of water, and some thunderbolts as well," She correctly herself when Oddish glared at her.

The blond girl yawned and settled back on the mattress, snuggling deeper under the blankets. Just before falling asleep again she reached and lightly stroke the bundle of leaves on top of Oddish's head. It was a lot softer than she thought it would be.

"Sleep, Oddish, we're all here, you'll be fine."

xxx

The next morning Bonnie woke to find that Oddish had retreated at some point during the night to a safer distance. Maybe when the storm blew over, she thought, noticing the sunlight streaming through the window. But it was nonetheless encouraging to see that she was not hiding in the flower pot anymore, but discussing earnestly with Litleo. Dedenne, upon seeing that his trainer was awake, stopped his game with Chespin and jumped into her arms with a happy cry.

"And good morning to you too, my little electric fur ball!" Bonnie said with a big smile, giving him a big cuddle. "And good morning to all of you! It's still rather early isn't it?"

"Not that early," Nurse Joy replied, entering the room. Immediately, Oddish stiffened, though she did not run for cover. "Your two friends are still asleep, and breakfast won't be ready for a while, but Blissey and I have been awake for a while now, we're just coming back from a stroll. As I predicted, with that much water falling out of the sky last night the fire is completely out. Though I did ask Wooper to round up a few friends and make sure no embers are left anywhere."

"That's good news Nurse Joy!"

"So, did you all have a good night?" The red-haired nurse asked, talking to Bonnie but looking at Oddish.

"We did, thanks for letting me sleep here."

"No problem, I had my doubts but I see it worked out. Oddish, will you let Blissey examine you? If she gives you a clean bill of health you will be free to go."

The silence stretched for a while, Oddish obviously still uncomfortable with the idea of anyone getting too close to her.

"Oddish," the little pokemon finally agreed with some reluctance.

Blissey kept her examination as non-intrusive as she could, and, turning back to Nurse Joy, indicated that Oddish was in perfect health.

"That's great!" Bonnie exclaimed, though she was a little sorry to see her go.

They accompanied their little charge to the entrance of the building. Oddish hovered nervously on the threshold, strangely unwilling to get out, even though she had tried to do just that multiple times the day before.

"Hmm, you don't have to be in a hurry," Bonnie told her, noting the hesitation though not understanding the reason behind it. "How about you eat breakfast with us first? You can hardly go on an empty stomach, after all!"

"Chespin!" The little green-headed pokemon strongly supported Bonnie's words, shuddering at the idea of an empty stomach.

One hour later, Max and Laura were up, everyone had broken their fast, and Oddish was still hanging around the pokemon centre. The weed pokemon was obviously stressed about something. Or was it fear on that little face? Either way, Bonnie did not feel like leaving her without making sure that she was alright, though Max had already asked when they could get on the road. The black-haired boy was getting impatient to reach Azalea Town and face his second gym.

"Well, how about we accompany you to your home then, before we go on our way?" Bonnie finally suggested, and Oddish, startled, looked at the Kalos girl with big eyes before nodding. "Great, let's go!" They put everyone back in their pokeballs, except Phanpy, for obvious reasons, and Dedenne, riding on Bonnie's shoulder. Phanpy was going to continue with the three friends for a while, as Nurse Joy had not heard of anyone looking for a lost phanpy. She promised to spread out the word to other pokemon centres in the regions, suggesting that they check in with other centres as often as possible, in case there was some news.

Oddish leading the way, they went into the forest once more. While they were following a different path than the one Blissey had taken two days ago, it did not take long for Bonnie, Laura and Max to realize that they were going back to the general vicinity of the fire.

"You don't suppose…?" Laura started to ask, but a worried look from Bonnie stopped the question before it could get out. They found out soon enough, as Oddish stopped abruptly on the edge of a clearing. A small brook was running in the middle, and everything beyond the brook was charred and dead. No pokemon had made their way back to the blighted area either, it would be a while before life could start again here.

"Oddiiiiiiiish!" The little pokemon wailed, contemplating the destruction of what had to have been her home.

xxx

For a while, Oddish's sobs were the only sounds in the clearing. Bonnie was trying to think of what to say, but what could you say? Oddish's home was well and truly gone, she would not be able to live in the area for quite some time, and it would not be the same anyway. As for her friends, they must have been part of the stampede, and who knew where they could be now? As the little pokemon mourned the end of the life she knew, Bonnie could only kneel on the ground besides her and hold her tight. It was a testimony to Oddish's distress that she did not try to break free, but instead leaned into the embrace. Over her head, Bonnie's eyes met Laura's and Max's. What to do now?

After some time, the weed pokemon subsided, and, regaining some of her shyness, she struggled to get some distance between Bonnie and her.

"Oddish", she said in a little, defeated voice, still looking at the charred landscape, her leaves drooping. And somehow that was even more heart wrenching than her cries had been. Bonnie took a deep breath, her decision taken.

"Oddish, I am truly sorry for you," she started, still kneeling to be at Oddish's height. "It must hurt a lot, to lose your home, and there's nothing I can do to lessen that hurt, not right now. But I also wanted you to know that you are not alone. We're here for you, and I'm hoping we'll also be here for you in the future. Oddish, I don't know how to say it but you impressed me a lot, with your strength and courage when confronted by the fire, and when I saw how you protected the teddiursa and how caring you are. I'm telling you this because I want you to understand I'm not acting out of pity. You don't deserve pity, but you do deserve to be cared for. Oddish, will you let me take care of you? I can't offer you a home, given that we're travelling all the time, but I can offer you my love and friendship. Will you join me and my friends?"

END OF CHAPTER

 _I tried to be quick with that update, since I had taken so much time with the last chapter. Hope you like it! Thanks for the nice reviews and messages, they really make me want to write more, I'll try to do that. But at the very least you can be reassured that I'm definitely not leaving this story, it's fun to write even though I'm not sure where it's leading me. I do have quite a few plot twists planned though, so bear with me!_

 _Quick poll though for the next chapters, would you rather have:_

 _A. More pokemon for the trio (subsidiary question, which ones?)_

 _B. More battles, especially gym battles but also involving other trainers_

 _C. More adventures of all kinds outside of the gyms_

 _D. More guest appearances by trainers from the original series_

 _E. Don't change anything, this is great_

 _Feel free to comment!_


	19. Pokemon blues

**Pokemon blues**

Bonnie suppressed yet another sigh. When she had made her offer to Oddish, she had been fairly sure that it would, if not leap into her arms, at least respond positively. Instead, it seemed to have frozen, as if the suggestion to join her team had been more than it could bear, and it had completely broken down. That had been more than two hours ago. The sun was now reaching its zenith, and the three friends were still not sure how to proceed. It seemed wrong to just leave Oddish to her grief, but what else could they do if she did not want to stay with them? Bringing the little bulb pokemon back to the pokemon centre did not seem like a lasting solution. Though maybe Nurse Joy would at least have some idea of what to do.

Max was torn between a need to do everything possible to comfort the stricken creature, and a longing to be on his way, finally free to move on to his next challenge. He exchanged one more glance with Laura, the last of a long series. Neither of Bonnie's friends had dared to make any suggestion. The Kalos girl usually was a fountain of positivism and energy, having her so unsure and despondent was really out of character. But then, most of the time, all the time really, she got positive responses from people around her, as if the good waves she seemed to be sending off in all directions compelled everyone to live up to her good view of them. Not so with Oddish, lost to the world around her, mired in her well of pain.

One of Max's pokeballs burst open on its own, a familiar green and white figure emerging from the red light.

"Ralts?" It asked, looking at Oddish with empathy.

"Don't ask me, I don't know what to do, buddy," Max answered with a small smile to its oldest companion.

"You know," Laura said quietly, "you never got around to telling us how you came to meet each other the first time, and how you found each other again."

"It's a long story," Max protested perfunctorily.

"Well, it looks like we have some time on our hands, anyway," Laura replied with a side glance at both Bonnie and Oddish. The blond girl turned towards her friends, glad to have something else to focus on besides her own thoughts.

"Yes, do tell us," she pleaded.

"Alright," Max surrendered. "It started when I was travelling with my sister, Ash and Brock. One day…"

The black-haired boy recounted its first encounter with Ralts, half reliving the scene. The child-like pokemon in his arms seemed to be reliving it too, as it shuddered several times during the story. Max reflexively tightened his arms around him, a silent reassurance that did much to calm Ralts down. The pair both had moisture in their eyes as Max told of their first farewells, though. And smiles when he recalled their next meeting, years later.

"I tell you, I'd never been so nervous in my life as when I set out to look for Ralts. I mean, we had promised we would find each other again, but I had no idea if he would still want to be with me after all that time. Turns out, he practically flew into my arms when we set eyes upon each other again, and that was it. We've been together ever since."

"Cool story, Max, Ralts!" Laura replied with a smile.

"Yeah, good one, but it makes me shudder, to think how it would have been if I had had to wait years for Dedenne and me to finally be together!"

"De-dedenne", said the little rodent, affectionately nuzzling his trainers' neck until some electricity shot out of its cheeks. Bonnie jumped at the shock, and Dedenne chittered apologetically, but she laughed right after and cuddling him right back.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm used to shocks. If it wasn't my brother's machines exploding it was Pikachu, or you, or residual electricity from the battles at Lumiose's gym. I'm almost as immune as a ground type by now."

"How did you and Dedenne meet anyway?" asked Max with curiosity. Bonnie looked fondly at the brown fur ball in her hands.

"Well, there was this little thief…"

After that, Laura explained how she found Swablu's egg, and they swapped more stories about their current friends, and those they had met before. At some point, Bonnie became aware of a presence behind her. A glance at Max and Laura confirmed it: Oddish had slowly crept closer to the little group, and started to listen to the stories.

"There is one more story I would love to tell one day," the blond girl continued without breaking the flow of the conversation or turning around. "One with a hard beginning but a happy ending. One about a brave little pokemon and how she overcame adversity. Do you know a pokemon who could help me tell that story, Oddish?"

The pokemon behind her was clearly startled, but before she could run away, Ralts and Dedenne went to her, one mumbling, one chittering, both clearly intend on soothing her anxiety. Nervously, Oddish came to stand next to Bonnie.

"I can't kiss your hurt better, no matter how much I want to," Bonnie said. "But my offer still stands. A new beginning, new friends, new places. I believe the friends you had here are alright, but I am sure they've fled very far from here. Maybe you'll meet some again, if we travel?"

Oddish pondered the girl's words for a while more, then, steeling herself, very gingerly climbed into her lap. Max's mouth dropped, and Laura's eyes got very big, while Dedenne started making delighted cartwheels. Bonnie felt the pokemon tremble, and marveled again at her courage. Oddish was offering herself entirely, agreeing to a strange new fate and putting her trust into Bonnie, and the Kalos girl felt awed. At the same time, an enormous grin broke onto her face, and it was all she could do not to shout her joy to the skies. But she did not want to frighten Oddish. Cautiously, she felt around for her bag, only to see Dedenne with a shrunken pokeball already in his paws. Bonnie took it, enlarged it, and gently touched Oddish with it. Her new friend vanished in a beam of light. One, two seconds passed, while Bonnie looked with some incredulity at the pokeball, and then she could not control herself anymore, jumping to her feet, shouting, and doing a happy dance all at the same time. Laura let herself be pulled into the dance, laughing as well, for Bonnie's antics were always infectious. When she felt sufficiently calmed down, the blond girl called on Oddish.

"Welcome to the family, Oddish. I am very glad that you'll be coming with us. Are you ready to go on, now?"

"Oddish," was the reply. Uncertain and determined at the same time. And Bonnie vowed that she would never let her new friend down.

xxx

"Azalea town, finally!"

Max's voice was exultant. The last few days had been uneventful, and they had made good time, even though they had stopped relatively early each day to allow for more training time. Max and Bonnie had had several heated battles, winning one and losing the next one, quite equal in strength. Bonnie had not yet started training with Oddish but her other pokemon were in peak condition, as were Ralts, Treecko and Poliwag. And Phanpy had seemed eager to do some battling too, so Bonnie and she had a few rounds against Laura and Swablu. It had helped not only the little elephant but also the Hoenn pair, who were becoming more comfortable with the apparent violence of pokemon battles.

"Let's leave our stuff at the pokemon centre and head directly towards the gym, ok?"

Laura smiled at Max's eagerness, but looked curiously at Bonnie, who should have been sharing the same feeling, but obviously was not.

"Ok, we can do that," the blond girl currently responded in a rather good imitation of her usual cheer. She let her eyes rest longingly on an advertising poster for a few seconds before tearing herself away. She entered Azalea Town at something like a run, a determined smile plastered on her face.

I wonder what is up with her, Max thought. It is really unlike Bonnie to be so undecisive, and she's been that way time and time again ever since we left Violet City.

"Hey, do you know what's wrong with Bonnie?" He asked Laura, when the Kalos girl was out of earshot. "You know her best."

"I think I do," the dark-haired girl replied. "But it's not my place to tell you, Bonnie should really be the one to do that."

"Tell me what?" Max asked.

"You'll see."

The Hoenn girl turned away, following after her rapidly departing friend, and Max followed them, muttering something under his breath about contrary girls. But his good mood came back soon. After all, they were in Azalea Town, and he was going to challenge the gym leader and gain his second badge, he knew it!

"Oh, what an adorable phanpy!" said a young girl when they entered the Azalea pokemon centre. "Is it yours?" She asked Bonnie, who was the closest.

"I wish she was, but she already has a trainer somewhere," the blond girl replied. "They got separated somehow."

"Oh!" The girl seemed to hesitate at what to say, making the three friends look at her more closely. A slight girl who did not look quite old enough to have any pokemon, she was wearing a blue dress and had a hair clip shaped like a marill.

"That's cute", Laura pointed out with a smile.

"Thanks. Err…" The next words came out in a rush. "You know, if you really want to find Phanpy's trainer, you should come to the meeting."

"The meeting?" Bonnie repeated, mystified.

"Look, do you have any other blue pokemon besides Phanpy?"

The three friends were even more bewildered than before.

"Yeah…?" Max ventured cautiously.

"Oh, good, I'm not supposed to talk about it otherwise. It's at sunset in the blue house next to the swimming-pool, and…"

"Minnie, where are you?"

An older girl came into the pokemon centre, wearing a blue dress identical to the one their small interlocutor sported. Their facial features were also eerily similar. Sisters, certainly.

"Ah, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you. Come on, I've already picked up Azumarill and we don't have time to dawdle today."

With a short apology, the girl – Minnie – took leave of the three friends and ran after her elder sister. Bonnie, Max and Laura looked at each other, nonplussed.

"I wonder what that was all about," Laura mused.

"I don't know, but it seems like it could be important for Phanpy," Bonnie said. "We should go look for that place."

"But my gym battle…" Max started to protest, but the look the two girls gave him was enough to silence him, and he flushed. "Oh, alright. I want to find Phanpy's trainer too, you know, you don't have to look at me like that! The gym will still be there tomorrow, I guess."

"Great!" Bonnie beamed.

xxx

"This is really strange," Laura commented, and her two friends nodded in acquiescence. The three of them had found the blue house easily enough, as there was only one swimming-pool in Azalea Town. Not sure what to expect, and since they still had a bit of time before sunset, they had elected to observe what was going on first. For the past thirty minutes, they had seen various people come up to the back door – never the front one – with a pokeball in hand, and show the pokemon inside before being allowed to step into the house. A marill, a zubat, a croconaw, a luxio, a mareep, a vaporeon… As the girl at the pokemon centre had said, there was a definite pattern to the pokemon, and most of the trainers even wore blue clothing themselves.

"Well, strange or not, let's go have a closer look," Bonnie suggested after a while. "Dedenne, if these people love blue pokemon, you'd better stay in my bag, ok?"

In the end, they decided that they had no option but to be brash, and they went up to the door as if they had every right to be there. Bonnie, Phanpy at her side, knocked decisively on the wooden panel. A big man in a blue uniform opened it.

"Proof of admittance?" He asked in a bored tone.

"Err," they hesitated.

The man made a brusque gesture.

"Well, come on, I haven't all day. You, blondie, you can go inside. What about you two?"

"Ah, of course," Laura replied, suddenly understanding. Grabbing one of her pokeballs, she called on her swablu, and Max followed suite with Poliwag. The warden ushered them inside. They arrived in a big hallway. It was almost empty except for a big desk, and from rooms on both sides drifted the sounds of animated conversations. Behind the desk sat a young woman, also dressed in blue from head to toe.

"Welcome to the Blue Club. Water types on the left, others on the right," she said in a bored tone. Her attitude brightened when she saw Swablu, perched on Laura's shoulder. "Oh, it's been a while since we had a Swablu, and they're so cute! Is this your first time at the club?"

Laura nodded.

"Well, you'll have a great time, you'll see. My name is Marilee, by the way. Now go on, we're going to start soon."

The three friends were just as puzzled as before. Max was reluctant to part from Laura and Bonnie, but apparently he had no choice, so he entered the room on the left, while Bonnie and Laura went into the other. There were already around twenty people there, gathered around a round stage, and maybe twice as many pokemon. All in different shades of blue. They noticed the luxio they had seen arrive, as well as a glaceon, a minun, a meditite, a riolu, several zubat and golbats and shinx and mareeps, another phanpy, and even a dratini, among others. Whatever this place was, and it seemed to be getting stranger by the minute, all those colour-coordinated pokemon next to each other was a great sight, and the two girls hardly knew where to look first. A few minutes later, a little fat man climbed on the stage, a wobbuffet at his side.

"Welcome to this month's session of the Blue Club!" He boomed, and the crowd roared. "What's our motto?"

"Blue pokemon power!" They yelled.

"What did you say? I didn't catch that."

"Blue pokemon power!" The trainers yelled louder.

"Blue like the sky, blue like the sea, blue like infinity, blue, the most royal of colors, for the most royal of pokemon!"

It seemed to be a ritual of sorts, though it did not make much sense. Bonnie and Laura had retreated into a corner, apprehensive, and wondering whether they should not attempt to leave immediately. Fortunately, the yelling went down a notch or two after that, as the little man extolled the virtues of (non-water type) blue pokemon for a while.

"As usual, you can all take the stage to present something about your pokemon or to pass along some piece of blue news," he finally concluded. "And after that, we'll have the traditional water against non-water battles in the arena! Non-water blues rock!"

A final cheer, then everyone started to chat in little groups again. One trainer followed the little man on stage with her newly evolved golbat, showcasing her pokemon's new moves. There were a few more announcements about pokemon care, then the stage stood empty. Bonnie swallowed, nervously.

"We should do it, it's going to be quicker that way," she told Laura.

"Do what?" The dark-haired girl asked. But Bonnie was already walking away, Phanpy at her side. Laura saw her talk to the first speaker, which they supposed was one of the club's leaders. He gestured towards the stage, and the blond girl climbed on it and cleared her throat.

"Err, excuse me, everyone? There is something I'd like to share with you…" Several heads turned in her direction, and she looked down, uncharacteristically feeling somewhat flustered. Then Phanpy bumped her gently, and she breathed deeply and smiled at the crowd, her sunny nature coming to the fore.

"I wanted you to know, this phanpy by my side isn't mine," she continued with more assurance. "My friends and I rescued her in the mountains a few days ago, halfway between here and Violet City. She already has a trainer and seems anxious to go back to him or her, but we have not been able to find any notice of a missing phanpy. Does any of you know Phanpy here? We hoped that Phanpy's trainer might have come here before."

Laura braced herself anxiously when Bonnie stopped speaking, scanning the crowd around her. Most just stood with confused expressions on their faces, and she sighed. Well, it had been worth a try. Bonnie's smile faltered, and she started to get down from the stage.

"Well, it could be Katie's phanpy, I suppose," a new voice said a bit doubtfully.

Laura and Bonnie both zoomed in on the person who had spoken. It was the boy with the other phanpy, a teenager with baggy pants and a camouflage shirt.

"She only came here like twice though, so I'm not sure if it's the same pokemon or not," he continued somewhat defensively. "I only remember because we exchanged some words about the care that phanpys need. But Katie's phanpy is female, so it could be."

Bonnie jumped from the stage and ran to him, Phanpy at her heels. The two little elephants greeted each other first cautiously, then joyfully. The blond girl gave a delighted shout, oblivious to the people watching the little scene, while Laura did her best to blend into the background.

"They recognize each other, how cool! It has to be the phanpy you met before. So who is Kaetie and where is she now?"

"Whoa, whoa!" The boy was clearly taken aback by her enthusiastic response. Must not have had much experience with females practically throwing themselves at him with happy faces, thought Laura with an interior smile, before blinking. Where had that irreverent voice come from?

"Well, I don't know much, honest. But you should try with Marilee later."

"My dear members," called at the same time the leader. "It's now time for the part that you're all waiting for. Let the battle phase… begin!"

Everyone roared again at this announcement, and the two girls became conscious of a similar roar coming from the other room. Then everyone moved towards a big staircase, going down. And down. Finally, they came to a couple of big doors, which swung open to reveal a complete underground battle arena. All the club members took seats, water types on one side, non-water types on the other. Bonnie spotted Max on one side, looking just as puzzled by the strangeness of it all as she felt. Sure, those trainers had some neat pokemon, but what was with the blue theme, and the water/non-water divide? It seemed very artificial. But very real to those people, who were already hurtling sneers and insults at each other across the arena. Good grief, she thought, the phrase a favorite of her father's. We have not even started the battles yet! Their fervor was a bit scary.

A series of matches ensued, always water-type against non-water type, each win bringing a point for the, well, team, apparently. The strengths seemed pretty even. Bonnie fidgeted a bit after a while, she wanted to take part, but she did not have a blue pokemon that could battle, and she did not dare do it with Phanpy. She saw Max hesitate, then get up to take his turn. A quick glance at Laura, really uneasy in these surroundings, was enough to tell her that her friend was not up to being Max's opponent. He was paired against a bespectacled girl, a blond one, with an azurill. Poliwag made quick work of the bouncing little mouse, and Max returned to the bleachers with a smile.

After a while, the battles ended, with a win for the water-types. People began to leave the arena in small groups, still being cautious of avoiding contact with the other side. Max caught Bonnie's eyes and gestured towards the stairs, asking if they could go too. The girls still wanted to talk to Marilee to enquire about the mysterious Katie, but the woman was not in the arena anymore, so they agreed to go up. They found Marilee in the first room, heading towards Azurill's trainer, who had flopped down on a chair, looking annoyed. Her azurill was at her feet, looking anxiously up at its trainer.

"Hey, Nina, how is Azurill doing?" She said by way of starting the conversation. Bonnie and Laura listened in, waiting until she was free.

"He looks ok, now. But if I'd known he was such a weakling I'd never have battled with him!" The defeat obviously rankled, and that could explain the short temper, but Laura frowned at the choice of words.

"Well, there's always an element of risk in battling with a new pokemon," Marilee replied. "He is a new pokemon, right? I've never seen you with him before." The girl – Nina – nodded. "Though I didn't know you were thinking of switching over to the other side! I prefer to tell you, quite a few people noticed…"

"Switching to the other side? Whatever the hell do you mean? I'd never do that!" Nina protested vehemently.

"Then why did you get a water-type?"

Nina's face cleared. "Oh, you're mistaking Azurill for Marill! I did as well at first. But no worry, Azurill is even cuter, and he is a normal/fairy mix! I was really happy to find that out."

"I know dear, but Azurill evolves into Marill, and since that's a happiness-based evolution, I don't really see how you can stop it besides making him miserable."

"My Azurill will evolve into that blue water rat?" Nina yelled. She looked horrified. "Are you sure? Gosh, that's disgusting!"

At that point, Bonnie, incapable of staying silent any longer, cut into the conversation.

"How can you call any pokemon disgusting? And what's the big deal with the water-type/non-water-type divide anyway?" She asked. Marilee and Nina turned two astonished and incredulous faces at her.

"How can you not know that?" Nina blurted out.

"Err, it's the first time we're coming here, you know," Bonnie replied, feeling embarrassed under the scrutiny, though her determination did not waver. To her surprise, Laura came to her rescue. "The blue club is really interesting, but we don't quite understand the rules yet." The Hoenn girl had a gentle, calming voice, and Marilee gave her a smile.

"Don't worry dear, it's alright to ask if you're new, no one can know everything, right, Nina?" The blond girl huffed, still looking at her Azurill with a hard expression.

"When this club was started we were all together, the only requirement was colour," Marilee explained. "But then some water-type trainers decided that only water-types could be considered true blue pokemon, and, well, it degenerated from there."

Bonnie and Laura looked at each other. What kind of nonsense was that? But then, the whole club seemed quite nonsensical to them, so what was one more crazy thing? Meanwhile, the bespectacled girl had brusquely got up and turned to leave.

"Hey, you forgot to recall your azurill!" Marilee called.

"I don't want the little rat anymore, not if it's going to turn into a stupid marill!" Nina did not even turn around. "Anybody can have him for all I care!" Both the girls and Marilee stared, stunned, at her retreating back.

"Azu?" A small voice, trembling a little. The azurill was looking at them with big, humid eyes. Heart breaking at the thought of the little fellow all alone, Laura knelt next to him, though she refrained from touching the blue mouse. "I'm sorry Azurill," she said. "Most people are really nice, but there are a few who harbor really stupid ideas sometimes, who can't see right. Don't let it sour you on having a trainer though, it's a most beautiful relationship…"

"Azu?" The little pokemon asked again, not really understanding.

"It's just a baby, I think," Marilee said. "I understand that Nina would not want to keep him, but that reaction was a bit harsh."

"I don't understand any of this," Laura replied truthfully. "But I'm going to take Azurill to the pokemon centre for now," she added, grabbing the blue mouse in a gentle hug. Swablu, on her shoulder, crooned softly at him. Resolutely, Laura stepped into the hallway, joining Max. Bonnie stayed behind to ask for information about Phanpy's probable trainer, and was rewarded with an address close to the Azalea gym. Soon after that, they were back at the pokemon centre, still not quite sure about what had happened at the so-called Blue Club.

END OF CHAPTER

 _Well, that's certainly my last installment before Christmas, and probably for 2017, as I'm going to be rather busy over the holidays._

 _So Merry Christmas everyone!_


	20. Decision, and a heated battle

**Decision, and a heated battle**

"That club thing was really weird," Laura commented the next morning. "I still don't understand what this was all about, honestly!"

The three friends were having a rather late breakfast at the Pokemon centre. They were planning on going to Katie's place right after, to hopefully reunite Phanpy with her rightful trainer and get the story behind their separation, and from there to go on to the Azalea gym to challenge Bugsy. Laura was spoon-feeding the little azurill a sort of mush recommended by Nurse Joy. The baby mouse seemed to enjoy it, babbling happily on her knees. They had learned that it actually was a little female, contrary to what Bonnie and Laura had understood the night before. Nurse Joy had huffed angrily when they told her the story of Azurill's abandonment, but had been disinclined to discuss the club.

"Yeah," Max agreed. "It felt like everyone was pulling a huge joke on us, only they actually were dead serious. But hey, you found out who Phanpy's trainer is, which was our goal, and you rescued that little one, so all in all it was a successful evening, I'd say!"

The black-haired boy was in high spirits, his long-awaited battle for his second badge finally within his reach. He turned towards Bonnie, who was picking rather disconsolately at her pancakes.

"Ok Bonnie, out with it!" He demanded. "You're not at all acting like yourself, and Laura doesn't want to tell me anything. What's wrong with you?"

Bonnie looked startled at the direct question.

"I didn't think I was that obvious," she said a bit sheepishly.

"Well, you are," retorted Max, exchanging a glance with Laura. "So stop beating around the bush already!"

"Oh, alright," Bonnie replied. "Yes, I have been thinking quite a lot ever since we left Violet City. Mostly, I have been wondering whether I should continue with challenging gyms here in Johto. And I've decided not to."

"What?" Max practically shouted, bewildered. "Of course you should continue, you're good at it! Why on earth would you want to stop?"

"Thanks for the compliment, Max. But I've discovered something that I want to do even more," Bonnie smiled. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Something that you're quite familiar with, I might add."

"What are you talking… Oh!" Max brain had caught up with his mouth. "You want to enter contests like my sister, don't you?"

"Got it in one!"

"But why? Don't you have fun with gym battles?" Max seemed rather disappointed.

"I do, I really do. But that's not all I want to do with my pokemon. Moreover, that's not all my pokemon want to do with me either, and I want to help them reach their full potential."

"What do you mean?" Max asked. Laura said nothing. The dark-haired girl had seemed unsurprised at her friend's announcement. But then, she had been to the Violet City contest with Bonnie and seen for herself the Kalos girl excitement at her first taste of that kind of competition.

"Well, when I was travelling around Kalos a few years ago, I had two kinds of trainers with me. My brother and Ash, who are first and foremost battlers, and Serena, who can fight pretty well when she needs to, but who mostly delights in performing. I liked aspects of both, and that's why it was so hard for me to decide what I wanted to do myself. So to discover that contests have elements of both, and that I didn't have to choose one over the other, that felt like a wish come true! I just wasn't sure what to do since I had already started collecting gym badges, so it felt like giving up on something in the middle, but then I realized that just because it took me a little longer to find my dream, it's not a valid reason not to pursue it!"

"And the part about helping your pokemon reach their full potential?"

"When I met Litleo, he had come a long way from home, on his own, because he wanted to perform in the Kalos Fireworks. It seems fitting to give him the opportunity to get better at performing. And Dedenne always loved watching showcases, so he's pretty excited as well. Chespin too but I'm not so sure about having him perform, we'll see. And Oddish is undecided but willing to give it a try."

"Oh, is that why you snuck out of the room with all your pokemon last night? You wanted to discuss it with them?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, it took me some time, but I finally realized they had just as much say in that decision as I did, and they're up for it, so contests here we come!"

"Well, I'm sorry you're not going to be competing in the Johto league with me," Max said, "you'd have been a great rival. But if you believe that contests are your thing, then more power to you!"

Bonnie smiled widely. She had not realized how much it had bothered her, to hover between the two options without quite being able to decide one way or another, and how much she had worried about what her friends would say. That both Laura and Max were on board with her project, that they were both supporting her, meant a lot.

xxx

A short while later, they were on their way. It would have been even quicker if not for a last-minute delay: the little azurill, seeing Laura preparing to leave the centre, had immediately started to scream, high-pitched, pitiful little cries that they (well, Laura anyway) had not been able to resist for very long. So the blue mouse was accompanying them, "just for today." Both Max and Bonnie had smirked when Laura said that, and an exchanged glance had confirmed that they were both on the same wavelength: another companion was going to join them when they left Azalea Town.

The address the two girls had gotten the night before proved to be in the same neighbourhood as the gym. It was a nice part of town, with lots of gardens. Bug-type pokemon were buzzing around everywhere in the flower beds. Katie's place was a smallish house, at the end of a one-way street. Long before they actually reached it, the three companions noticed that Phanpy was getting more and more excited, proof enough that she knew this place. Nobody was outside on this fine morning, so Bonnie rang the bell, a bit anxiously. She had been very keen to reunite the little elephant with her rightful owner, but she had to confess that she was going to miss their little friend. Phanpy had proven to be a very sweet, even-tempered pokemon, and it was a shame that they would continue their journey without her. And then there was the mystery of how she had become separated from her trainer in the first place, and how she had happened to be in those mountains.

Slow footsteps could soon be heard from the other side of the door, which was opened with a creek. A little old lady stood on the threshold with a puzzled expression.

"Yes, children, what can I do for you?"

Before any of them could answer though, Phanpy practically jumped into her arms, almost bowling her over.

"Hmmpf!" The old woman beamed. "That's our phanpy! My goodness, but what is she doing here? My granddaughter is going to be overjoyed, she was besides herself when Phanpy got lost. Laney! Laney! Come downstairs quickly, there's a surprise for you!"

"What is it Grandma?" A young girl appeared at the top of the stairs, all red hair and freckles in a green dress that had certainly been used for gardening, judging by the smudges. She set eyes upon the blue elephant and screamed.

"Phanpy! Oh my god, I thought you were lost forever!" She burst into sobs while trying to fly down the stairs, Phanpy meeting her halfway with a joyful cry. The touching reunion left no one unmoved. There were tears in both Bonnie and Laura's eyes, while Max kept surreptitiously rubbing his face.

"Come in, come in, dears," the little grandmother said after a few minutes. "Can I offer you some cookies and a cup of tea? It's the least I can do after the great happiness you just caused. And I have to admit, I'm most curious to hear your story. Not that we're not happy that you brought us our phanpy back, mind, but the last we heard Katie and she were quite far away from here. My name is Martha, by the way."

"I'm Bonnie, and this is my partner, Dedenne, and my friends Laura and Max."

The three friends allowed themselves to be shepherded into a cheery, if small, living room, with bright red armchairs and fragrant flowers everywhere. Two minutes later, while the old lady was serving them some chocolate cookies ("Homemade, dears. And the best in Azalea, if I do say so myself."), Laney and Phanpy joined them. The red-haired girl was holding on tightly to her friend as if she would never let go again and had apparently not even noticed her weight. Bonnie, with frequent help from her friends, started to explain how they had found Phanpy, how they had rescued her, and their subsequent adventures with the little elephant.

"We're really lucky that you made all this effort to find Phanpy's family," Martha commented when Bonnie finally fell silent. "Laney has been besides herself ever since Katie admitted that she didn't have Phanpy anymore, I was at my wits' end to find out how to cheer her up."

"Katie is Phanpy's trainer then?" Laura asked with curiosity. "Is she also one of your grand-daughters?"

"Yes, Katie is Laney's big sister. She just started her journey as a Pokemon trainer. It was a real blow to Laney when Katie decided to go with Phanpy, there had always been a special bond between the two littles ones ever since their mum brought it home as an egg. But Katie didn't want a classic Johto starter, so that was that. I think, from what she didn't say in her phone calls as much as from what she did say, that she was having trouble establishing a real bond with Phanpy. Then she caught that pichu and obviously fell in love with it, and I'm afraid she was neglecting Phanpy a little. But I still don't understand how the two became separated."

"I'm just happy we could help," Bonnie said. "You will contact Katie and let her know her phanpy has been found then? I'm sure she must be very worried as well, even if there were some issues between Phanpy and her."

"She's never taking Phanpy from me again!" Laney shouted suddenly, the first words she had spoken since she had greeted her little friend. She looked upset and determined.

Martha pursed her lips.

"Indeed, I don't think that would be wise at all, and I'll tell your parents that, don't worry."

"Well then, thank you for your hospitality, but we should really get going," Max interjected rather anxiously.

"He's going directly to the gym to challenge your gym leader," Bonnie confided, "that's why he looks so stressed."

"I'm not stressed, that's just anticipation!" Max protested, and both Martha and Laney smiled.

"Then good luck to you, young trainer, we wouldn't dream of standing between a trainer and a gym battle! Why don't you all come back for dinner tonight? We'll celebrate Phanpy's return, and hopefully your victory…"

"Sure, that would be great!" Bonnie immediately replied with a big smile. Laura and Max also voiced their thanks and agreement, and – finally, thought Max –, they took momentary leave of their hosts.

xxx

"They're getting away, catch them!"

The outcry was all the louder since the street was very quiet. The three friends looked around, nonplussed, trying to locate its source.

"Over there!" Laura pointed.

A teenager had just rounded the corner, chasing a group of fluttering bug pokemon which they recognized as ledybas and ledians.

"Right, let's do this!" Max said, grabbing a pokeball. "Poliwag, I need your help! Use attract on those!"

The tadpole reacted instantly, and her sweet attack drew a good half of the bugs to her. But four of them, obviously females, continued their flight.

"Thanks!" The teenager shouted as he came towards the friends. "I'll collect them when I come back!"

"Chespin, come out and use your vine whip on that ledian! Dedenne, use thunder shock on the ledybas!" Bonnie cried, unwilling to let the bug pokemon fly past without doing her best to stop them.

The little green hedgehog was fast, and he deftly plucked his target out of mid-air. Meanwhile, the electric attack had quite an effect on the part flying types, not quite stopping them but slowing them enough for the youth to capture them in the big net he was carrying. He beamed at Bonnie and Max.

"That was great, thanks a lot! I thought I'd be chasing those little scamps for half a day at least, full of energy and mischief as they were!"

Chespin handed over his prisoner, and Max had Poliwag bring her temporary suitors to the net. She looked relieved when they stopped buzzing around her.

"Happy to help. What happened?" Bonnie asked curiously.

"Apparently one of my helpers left the door to one of the greenhouses open, just a fraction, and this bunch wasted no time in sneaking out. Luckily I spotted them directly, but they're really fast! Hey, that one is not one of mine!"

Amongst the ledybas and ledians which had been attracted by Poliwag's attack was a yanma.

"Must be a wild one, and your pokemon attracted it along with mine. Go away now little one, you're free, and I have enough of your kind already."

The yanma did not want to leave Poliwag's side, evading Bugsy's efforts to shoo it away. Poliwag, obviously fed up with its antics, sent a well-aimed water jet at it, and it fell back, hovering behind the group. Max recalled Poliwag into her pokeball.

"You were talking about greenhouses?" Laura asked the teenager with some curiosity.

"Yeah, come and have a look, all of you, you definitely earned it! I specialize in bug pokemon, they're really amazing, you know. I'm researching everything about them, so I had these huge greenhouses build so that they can feel at home, and I can observe them all I want. My name is Bugsy by the way, I'm the Azalea Town gym leader."

xxx

"Really?" Bonnie laughed, delighted. At Bugsy's frown, she apologized. "I wasn't making fun of you, honest. But we were actually on our way to the gym, so that's a pretty funny coincidence! I'm Bonnie, and this is my partner Dedenne, and my friends Laura and Max."

Bugsy smiled and shook their hands, being careful of keeping the huge net out of reach.

"Happy coincidence, I would say. So, are you three thinking of challenging me then? You spared me a long chase, and my time is yours, if you want."

"I came to challenge you, yes," Max acquiesced, finally finding his voice after the shock of finding himself suddenly in front of the very person he had come to battle.

He looked at his future adversary. Bugsy was a slender youth with unkempt hair half falling down his face. He looked to be around sixteen, give or take a year. His baggy pants and expedition shirt made him look like an outdoorsy kind of person, which, by all accounts, he really was. With his yellow scarf around his neck, he seemed to be coming back from a scout meeting. He had a friendly, infectious smile, and Max found himself smiling back.

"Good thing we came at the right time, I'd have been really disappointed to have to wait for your return to the gym!"

"Well, come on then, I'll release my little friends here into their greenhouse, and then I'll accept your challenge."

The gym was not far. Seeing the girls' interest in the greenhouses, Bugsy took the time to give them the promised tour, despite Max's impatience. They all were quite impressed by the set up: it felt like a forested glen inside, very lush and green and with colourful flowers everywhere. The third, and biggest, greenhouse also contained a surprise, an arena.

"I have another arena within the gym building proper, for the more official tournaments and this kind of stuff, but I personally prefer to battle on this one. What do you think Max, shall we stay here?"

"Sure, I'm up for it!"

Bugsy motioned to a pale youth toiling on one side. He appeared to be carefully pruning some of the bushes.

"Brian, leave your shears for a minute and come here, we need a referee!"

"Ok Bugsy, I'm coming!"

Max and Bugsy shook hands, then took place on each side of the arena. Brian placed himself at the middle point on the left side and motioned to Bonnie and Laura that they should grab chairs and sit behind him. Both girls obeyed, each with their favourite mouse on their lap, and grinned in anticipation: the fight promised to be interesting.

"This is an official gym battle between gym leader Bugsy of Azalea Town and challenger Max of Petalburg City. Each opponent can use up to three pokemon. Only the challenger is allowed to switch pokemon. The battle starts… now!"

xxx

"Shuckle, you're up, buddy."

"Then, Poliwag, I choose you!"

Both adversaries looked at each other for a few seconds, then:

"Poliwag, water jet!" "Shuckle, struggle bug!"

Max and Bugsy had shouted almost simultaneously. Shuckle fired several blasts of green energy towards Poliwag, which collided with the jet of water launched by the tadpole. The two attacks cancelled each other.

"Poliwag, water jet again!" "Protect!"

The bug and rock pokemon was not as fast as its opponent, but Bugsy had clearly worked out a strategy for this case, and the water jet splashed harmlessly against Shuckle's wall of protection. Max clenched his fists in frustration. He needed to get past that wall, but how?

"Shuckle, struggle bug!" Bugsy had captured the initiative. On Max's indication, Poliwag dodged the first attack, but then Shuckle repeated its moves again and again, and the third one reached the tadpole, sending her flying a few feet away.

"Poliwag, are you alright?"

"Poli!" The little pokemon answered with determination, getting back on her feet.

"Careful, here they come again. Use water jet in a circular motion!"

The jets of water enveloped Poliwag like a shield, reflecting the blasts of energy from the struggle bug.

"So, you found a defense, hey?" Bugsy smiled. "Well then, we'll have to try something else. Shuckle, rock slide!"

Shuckle's body briefly glowed white, and multiple white rings of energy appeared above the arena. Then, several large grey boulders came out of the ripples of energy and started to fall down over Poliwag.

"Poliwag, dodge them, you can do it!" At Max's cry, Poliwag sprinted all over the place, zigzagging left and right to avoid the boulders. She was successful, but the last ones fell all around her, effectively trapping her in one spot. The gym leader shook his head with a grin.

"Too bad your pokemon can't move anymore, hey? Shuckle, rock slide again!"

The white circles started to appear again. Max thought very quickly. "Poliwag, use ice beam to smash those rocks and free yourself!"

The move was successful beyond his hopes, as Poliwag quickly reduced the rocks to flying shards. Many of them flew in Shuckle's direction, who had to stop its attack and use protect to avoid being damaged by its own rocks.

"Yeah, now use attract!" Max yelled in the brief lull that followed. Unfortunately, the attack appeared to have no effect.

"Sorry Max, my shuckle is also a female. Though that was a good try!"

Before Bugsy could call out the next move, Max took the lead: "Then use double slap and punch that shuckle into the air!"

Poliwag was fast, and Shuckle had not time to defend herself. She was projected over the arena, looking somewhat dizzy.

"Now use water jet!" Too confused to protect herself, Shuckle took the full force of the water jet. When she landed on the ground, she was knocked out.

"Shuckle is unable to battle, Poliwag wins." The referee commented.

"Well done, Shuckle," Bugsy said, recalling her. "And well done you two, but it's far from over yet. Ariados, my beauty, your turn!"

The big spider looked strong, and Poliwag cast an apprehensive glance at Max.

"Don't let it take the initiative, use ice beam!"

The attack was successful and forced Ariados to take a step back. It reared defiantly afterwards, showing an undaunted combative spirit.

"Ariados, use string shot!" "Dodge it!"

But Poliwag, tired from the previous fight, was just a bit too slow, and found herself caught in the sticky strings.

"Now use absorb!" The grass-type attack was quite effective, and Poliwag screamed as she felt her energy leeched away from her.

"Finish it with poison sting!" Poliwag was still caught in the web and weakened from the previous attack. The poisoned darts proved too much for her, and she fainted.

"Poliwag is unable to battle, Ariados wins!"

xxx

"That was great Poliwag, now get some rest," Max said as he recalled her in her ball. "Okay Treecko, your turn now!"

"An interesting choice," Bugsy commented, eyebrows raised. "I'm curious to see what you imagine you can do against my Ariados. She's one of my strongest pokemon, you know."

"Treecko?" Laura whispered to Bonnie. "Isn't he at a great disadvantage? Why did Max choose him?"

"Against a bug and poison type? He is, especially since he doesn't know many attacks that are not grass-type. But Treecko was going to have a difficult time in this gym anyway. I think Max is hoping Treecko can at least weaken or finish Ariados, and that Ralts won't be at a disadvantage against Bugsy's last pokemon."

"Oh! That's good strategy, I guess, but it could be quite rough on Treecko…" Laura pursed her lips, not sure if she approved of Max being so ruthless. But really, what else could he do in a bug-type gym?

"Ariados, let's go for string shot again!"

"Avoid them by using your quick attack!" Treecko was instantly responsive, and try as she might, Ariados did not manage to pin him down.

"Very well, then use poison sting!" "Counter it with bullet seeds, don't let the darts touch you!"

It took at least two or three seeds to stop one single dart, but Treecko managed to evade the attack. Bugsy frowned in frustration: his little adversary was proving very elusive. But on the other side of the battlefield, Max was equally frustrated. They had a good defense, but how to weaken Ariados?

"Treecko use energy ball, several of them, keep Ariados from attacking!" The green lizard obeyed immediately. The green spheres were particularly bright, as Treecko and Max had perfected the attack during their intense training sessions, and several of them hit their target point-blank, but they apparently did little damage. Ariados shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.

"Quickly, use quick attack, before she recovers! Great, now do it again! And again…"

The third quick attack was one too many. While Ariados was clearly destabilized, she was fast enough to shoot some more sticky string as Treecko tried to get away. It was not enough to stop her green opponent completely, but more than enough to slow him down considerably.

"Now use poison sting again!" Treecko tried to counter the darts with more bullet seeds, and he did stop a lot of them, but he was no longer fast enough to dodge the ones that remained.

"Treecko!" He cried out with some despair, just before they landed. He was still standing as the attack ceased, but obviously very weakened.

"Now use absorb!" Treecko tried, and managed, to fire a last energy ball at Ariados, stopping her from using her attack and regaining some of her lost energy. But then the poison proved too much, and he stumbled to the ground.

"Treecko is unable to battle, Ariados wins!" Brian announced.

"Treecko, you were great!" Max said, gathering his little friend in his arms. "We knew it would be hard for you, this battle, but you really did good, and you weakened Ariados significantly. Now rest, and we'll do the rest, alright?"

"So, what will be your last pokemon, Max?" Bugsy asked in a carrying voice.

Max smiled. "Let me present my oldest buddy and partner. Go, Ralts!"

Upon getting out of his pokeball, the child-like pokemon looked intently at the arena and his adversary.

"Two opponents to go, but I know you can do it, Ralts! WE can do it, together!"

"Ralts!"

xxx

"Another interesting choice," Bugsy commented. "Ariados, let's start with string shot again!" By using psychic on the strings, Ralts was able to make them fall harmlessly on the side.

"Then poison sting!"

"Safeguard!" Ralts' erected protection stopped the darts. "Now it's your turn, use psychic on Ariados!" The attack was very effective, and coming on top on the damage Treecko had dealt, it made the big spider stumble. But she regained her footing quickly.

"Pin missile!"

"Right, Ralts, you know what to do with this one!" Reacting as usual to the attack he had had to face so many times while training with Bonnie, Ralts used psychic on the missiles themselves, bending them to his will… until they turned around, aiming right at Ariados. The spider was not expecting that and took her own attack frontally, stumbling again.

"Follow with another psychic, quickly!"

That last attack proved too much for Ariados, and she fell to the ground, conceding the fight.

"Ariados is unable to battle, Ralts wins!"

"Thanks Ariados, good fight. And good strategy from you two!" Bugsy added to Max and Ralts. "That thing with pin missile, that was clever. But this battle is far from over yet, and I'm wondering how you're going to cope against my own oldest buddy. Scizor, it's your turn!"

"Scizor!"

The bug-steel type was quite impressive, all gleaming red armor and big claws. Max frowned, disappointed. He had really hoped that Ralts would have a good chance against their last opponent, but that was going to be a tough fight. Hopefully the scizor would not know too many steel-type attacks.

"Scizor, sword dance!"

Max gritted his teeth as he realized that all of Scizor's attacks would be more effective from now on.

"Now fury cutter!" Scizor's claws seemed to elongate, like short swords, and he rushed at Ralts.

"Safeguard!" Max cried out, just in time. The protection offered diminished the damage Ralts was taking, but it did not cancel it completely. When Scizor fell back, Max took the initiative.

"Use psychic!"

"Double team!" Suddenly confronted by a dozen scizors, Ralts faltered, and his attack did not land.

"It doesn't matter Ralts, use psychic on them all!"

"Oh no my friends, that won't work! Scizor use bullet punch!" All scizors started running towards Ralts, claws glowing.

"Double team!" As Ralts also multiplied his image a dozen times and the scizors stopped, confused as to which was their real target, Max smiled, but it was a bit grim. Ralts was good and his defense was top-notch, but if his attacks did not land, what good would that be? Sooner or later one of Scizor's attacks would get through, and it would be over.

"Psychic!" He still called out, unwilling to let Bugsy dictate the pace of the battle. Rays of energy flew out of all the ralts' images, and though only one ray was dangerous, the scizors still had to avoid them all. In a few seconds all the false images had dissipated and Ralt's attack did land on Scizor. But the big bug shook himself and regained his stance with little visible damage.

"Use fury cutter on the ralts!"

Scizor was fast, and he made all the ralts disappear in next to no time. Ralts had no time to dodge, and he took the attack frontally. It sent him flying away, and he landed heavily. But there was no respite: Scizor was already at the landing point with a bullet punch, and the child-like pokemon cried out at the super-effective move. For the second time in a matter of seconds, he went flying away, landing right in front of Max.

"Ralts! Are you alright?" The black-haired boy yelled, as his pokemon stuggled to get back to his feet. "Can you still fight, or shall we concede? You've done a great job so far, nothing to be ashamed of."

At these words Ralts turned to face his trainer. He had managed to find his balance again, though it was obvious that the fight had taken a heavy toll on him. But his spirit was clearly undaunted, and he raised both arms in a fighting stance.

"Ralts!" He said with determination. And suddenly, he began to glow white all over. He was rapidly engulfed in a ball of white light, bright enough that all spectators had to shield their eyes for a few seconds. When it disappeared, Ralts had morphed into a bigger version of himself, though still child-like and dainty, floating lightly over the arena.

"Kir!"

Max laughed, delighted, as Laura turned to Bonnie with big eyes.

"Was that…"

"Yeah, Ralts just evolved into Kirlia," Bonnie replied. "What a fighting spirit!"

"Well, that was unexpected," Bugsy commented. "I love it when battles are full of surprises. But that still won't be enough for you to vanquish my scizor, I'm afraid. Scizor, bullet punch again!"

"Kirlia, avoid it and use psychic!"

But instead of heading Max's words, the little pokemon turned towards his opponent with fire in his eyes. And fire suddenly erupted from both his arms. As Scizor connected with Kirlia, it was he who flinch first.

Max was flabbergasted: he had recognized fire punch, a fire-type move that the ralts line could in theory learn, but which was almost never seen. But he recovered quickly: they had to keep Scizor on the defensive.

"That's great Kirlia, keep it up!"

Kirlia did not need the advice: he had continued to pummel Scizor with his fiery hands, and though the punches were small, their impact was far greater.

"Protect yourself with swords dance!" But as Scizor started to turn on himself, the swords acting as shield, Max called out:

"Don't let him escape you, use psychic to pin him in place and then the biggest fire punches you can muster!"

The combination sent Scizor reeling away. He landed on the ground, took one hesitant step forward, and slowly fell over.

"Scizor is unable to battle, Kirlia wins. Max from Petalburg City is the winner!"

END OF CHAPTER

 _Hi everyone, apologies for the long gap. I realized earlier this year that it was going to be difficult for me to follow any kind of publication schedule. I thought about stopping, but in the end I couldn't do it. So I'm going to publish when I can, even if it's irregular. Keep checking from time to time…_


	21. Alto Mare

**Alto Mare**

For what felt like an eternity, but could only have been a few seconds, Max stood frozen in place, unable to believe what had just happened. He turned to Kirlia, who looked just as dazed. Bonnie and Laura erupted in cheers.

"We did it… you did it!" He told his pokemon. "Kirlia, you were just fantastic!"

"Kirlia!"

But then the child-pokemon wobbled and half-fell to the ground. Max rushed to his side and scooped him up.

"Hey, I got you, buddy. You can rest now."

Kirlia disappeared back into his ball, and Bugsy approached Max.

"Great battle! It's not often that I get one with so many surprises. I see you've trained your pokemon well, and that you have strong relationships with them. Nothing but a particularly tight bond would have made your ralts evolve like this. And what a fighting spirit! I'm proud to present to you the hive badge!"

Laura and Bonnie rushed up to Max with their own congratulations. The black-haired boy seemed a bit dazed by his victory. The battle had been very tough. Two type disadvantages, and still he had won! He felt like nothing was impossible anymore, with enough will and enough training.

Max was still admiring his new badge when the trio exited the greenhouse a little while later, after taking their leave of Bugsy. He had barely taken any steps outside though that a flying figure swooped down and neatly plucked it out of his hand. The three friends looked up in astonishment to see the little yanma from before, which looked very pleased with himself.

"Hey, give that back!" Max shouted.

He reached towards his pokeballs but hesitated, knowing that all his pokemons were pretty much worn out after the tough fight they just had. Fortunately, Bonnie was ready.

"Dedenne, thunder shock!"

The yanma was not quick enough to dodge, and the electric shock made him drop the badge, which Max immediately scooped up and put in his pocket. The red dragonfly looked very sad at the loss of his new toy. He hovered above Max, as though unwilling to leave.

"You know," Laura said pensively, "it almost looks like Yanma only stole your badge to get your attention. I really can't say why pokemon take to you like this, I mean, you being such a scruffy boy and all that, but he does seem to like you… or Poliwag, I'm not sure which!"

Max smiled at the gentle teasing, then frowned.

"You really think so? I wasn't really planning on adding to my team just yet… though after seeing Bugsy at work I wouldn't mind a bug pokemon… I don't know much about yanmas though."

Still hesitating, he got his pokedex out for a scan.

"Yanma, the clear wing pokemon. Its eyes can see 360 degrees without moving its head. If it flaps its wings really fast, it can generate shock waves that will shatter windows in the area."

Max brightened.

"Hey, that sounds pretty good. So, Yanma, you want to come with us?"

Yanma's enthusiastic loops in the air left little doubt as to his answer. Max grabbed an empty pokeball.

"Thing is, I don't have any pokemon that's fit to battle with you right now, so you'll have to get in by yourself."

Yanma let himself be captured without resistance. As the pokeball emitted its characteristic "klink" to acknowledge that a new pokemon had been caught, Max picked it up with an uncertain smile.

"I guess I have a yanma now!"

xxx

The party at Martha's was a lot of fun. The three friends had planned to leave all their pokemon at the centre for some down time (and recovery time, in the case of Max's team), but of course Dedenne had to come along. And Azurill did not want to leave Laura any more than in the morning. So Max decided to bring his new friend as well, to further their acquaintance.

They did not know many guests, besides Martha and Laney, but everyone was really nice, congratulating Max on his victory. And just before dinner the doorbell rang again, and who stood at the door but Bugsy! The gym leader laughed at their surprise.

"You didn't waste time in befriending the best cook in town! Hey, don't look so stunned. Martha is my grandmother, actually. I'm Laney's cousin. I heard I had you three to thank, again, for bringing Phanpy home! Seems like our family is very much indebted to you."

He then noticed Yanma hovering above Max.

"So you still have your little follower!"

"Yeah, we're going to travel together from now on. I had never really thought about bug pokemon one way or another before today, but our battle really made me want to know them better, and here was this little guy doing everything he could to attract my attention…"

"Great! Bug pokemon are fantastic, I wish more people could see them as I do. Every convert counts!"

At the other end of the table Bonnie was trying to find information about pokemon contests in the area.

"The next one is in Alto Mare," replied one of Martha's guests, a fiery little lady with a bad-tempered snubbull which Bonnie had pronounced adorable, earning her the lady's good graces. "That's on the coast, south of here. Actually, it's kind of an island city, there is only one bridge to link it to the mainland. There is this big annual festival which takes place at the end of next week, and for the first time the festival will feature a contest. You should check it out!"

"I sure will!" Bonnie replied enthusiastically.

To the surprise of exactly no one, except maybe Laura herself, they did not leave Azalea Town without Azurill. The brown-haired girl looked a bit sheepish as she exited the Pokemon centre with the little mouse in her hands. Max's and Bonnie's smirks said it all.

"So Alto Mare?" Max asked for confirmation.

"Yes please, if you both don't mind!" Bonnie replied exuberantly.

"Of course not, I'll need time to train for my next gym battle anyway, and this festival sounds interesting!"

"As for me, anywhere new is fine, you know that. And Alto Mare sounds like a unique city, it should be fun to check it out!"

xxx

A week later, the three friends were in awe. They were standing on a cliff to the north of Alto Mare and gazing upon the city. From afar, it looked like a moon crescent negligently thrown upon the sea. It seemed like only the narrow ribbon of a bridge kept it from drifting away from the mainland.

Continuing their journey, they followed the winding path to the bottom of the cliff, then joined the road to the bridge. Far from being narrow and fragile, it was, seen from up close, the biggest bridge they had ever seen. Crossing it took them a good half-hour on foot. When they arrived, they were quite parched, as the bridge did not offer much in way of shade. Fortunately, one of the first shops they saw was a lemonade vendor, and they sat gratefully under a colorful awning, sipping on the ice-cold drinks.

The streets were pretty full, with people and pokemon everywhere. They could see a lot of water types, not so strange in a coastal city. Some people were carrying lightweight platforms which looked a little bit like a chariot without wheels, and this picked the friends' curiosity.

"What's with the chariots?" Bonnie asked their waiter as he came to replenish their drinks.

The big mustachioed man looked at them in astonishment.

"Those are for the Tour de Alto Mare, of course!"

"The what?"

"The Tour de Alto Mare! It's a race on the city canals, held every year on the first day of the Alto Mare festival! People come from all over Johto to participate or to watch! Don't tell me you've never heard of it?"

"Sorry, none of us is from Johto, we came for the festival and the Pokemon contest," Bonnie explained.

"How does this race work?" Max asked with interest.

"Well, it's pretty simple. Trainers partner with one of their pokemon, who pull one of those floating chariots. They race all over the waterways, and the first one to cross the finish line is the winner. It's the biggest event of the year here! Tomorrow, everything stops in the city and everyone goes to watch."

"That sounds like fun!" Max enthused. "Do you know if it might be possible to try that this afternoon? Not that I want to race or anything, but just to get a feeling of it is to be on those chariots"

"Sure, my brother Vittorio always has some spare chariots around. He was the winner of the very first Tour de Alto Mare that the city organized, now he trains young racers."

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Bonnie exclaimed.

The man smiled proudly, puffing his chest.

"Racing runs in the family, you know. My son Ross was the winner of the last three races. He won four all in all. Almost five, but one year this red-haired girl came out of nowhere to steal the show. This year is the first year in a long time that he is not participating."

"Oh, why not?" Laura asked anxiously. "Nothing bad I hope?"

"Now don't worry about Ross, young lady, he's fine. He went to Hoenn to learn surfing techniques, he wants to open a surfing school when he comes back here. It makes you wonder who will win the Tour though, there is no clear favourite this year."

"Well, thanks for all the information," Max said, getting up. "We'd better go drop our stuff at the pokemon centre and check out your brother's place if we want to have some time in the water today!"

"Have fun!"

xxx

The pokemon centre was full, there was not a single bed available. The resident Nurse Joy apologized, saying that festival time tended to be like this. Fortunately, she was prepared for this, and had a list of Alto Mare inhabitants who were willing to welcome some young trainers in their homes for the duration of the festival. The trio was soon settled in the cosy apartment of a lovely old couple and went out to look for Vittorio. Their contact was a burly man with an even bigger moustache than his brother.

"Sure, I have some spare chariots," he replied to their enquiry. "If Marco is sending you I guess you can have one. But all my water pokemon are already busy though. With the festival there are so many tourists in town, and they all want to try the chariots."

"No problem," Max answered, "I have a poliwag, and I'm sure she'll love the opportunity to learn something new. Especially if it means playing with us in water!"

Poliwag was indeed super excited when she found out what the afternoon programme was. Max had thought to pack swim trunks in his journey, but the girls had not brought any swim wear, so they set out to get some bikinis at a nearby shop, settling on a polka-dot blue for Laura and a swirling green and yellow one for Bonnie. When they returned, they had to laugh upon seeing Max and Poliwag try to work together with the chariot. Poliwag had quickly picked up how she was supposed to pull the contraption, but it seemed like it was a lot less easy to stay on the chariot than they had thought, and Max was falling a lot.

"Hey, Max, let me try!" Bonnie yelled immediately, pretty much diving into the water.

Max yielded his chariot and pokemon with good grace. Bonnie turned out to have even less success than the Hoenn boy in keeping her balance while on the chariot, but she shrieked with glee at every try.

"This is really fun," she told her friends after a few turns. "But I really don't know how the racers do it, they must practice for such a long time to be able to stay up!"

"Looks like it," Max agreed. "Hey, Poliwag, are you tired? Do you want to take a break?"

The little tadpole shook her head and playfully sent a water jet his way.

"Alright, alright, I see you still have lots of energy. I want another turn then, but first, why don't you try, Laura?"

"Me?" His friend answered doubtfully. "I don't know…"

"You should totally try it, it's a lot of fun!" Bonnie immediately chimed in. "Come on, you can't be any worse than Max or me anyway!"

Even the shy girl had to laugh at that one.

"Oh, ok, I'll try for a little while. Poliwag, be nice to me, ok?"

It quickly became apparent that Laura was faring a lot better than her friends on the water. In just a few minutes, she had gotten the hang of staying up in a straight line, and after a few tries she even managed halfway graceful turns.

"You were right, this is fuuun!" She shouted to her friends while zooming past them.

Bonnie and Max's jaws were hanging out. They had just tested for themselves how hard it was to stay on the small chariot! Vittorio came to them.

"Is this your friend's first try?" He asked in an interested voice.

"Er, yeah, I'm pretty sure she never tried something like this before," Bonnie replied, finally finding her voice.

"That's pretty damn impressive for a beginner, I haven't seen many people take to the sport like this!" the big man commented.

He motioned for Laura to come to him.

"I've been watching you, young lady, and you have a real gift for balance," he told her.

The Hoenn girl blushed from head to toe.

"Thank you, sir", she stammered.

"Call me Vittorio. You had never done this before I gather?"

"Never! But as for balance, I'm from a circus family and I've done a lot of acrobat training, so I don't deserve any special praise…"

"Nonsense! Training or not, you're good, so just accept the compliment! And I was wondering… would you like to take part in the race tomorrow?"

If possible, Laura turned a deeper shade of red.

"Me, in the race with all the really good trainers? Si… Vittorio, you're joking!"

"Not at all. I'm not saying you can win, but with a few pointers I feel confident that you could handle it and have a good time. Your friend's poliwag has a lot of stamina, you two would make a good team. Last-minute registration is open until tonight, think about it. I could help you if you want."

"You should totally go for it, Laura!" Bonnie chimed in. "You were awesome out there on the water."

"And of course, I'd lend you Poliwag, no worries," Max added.

It took the combined efforts of her three supporters to convince the brown-haired girl that she really should give it a go. It was Vittorio's remark that she would be just another racer in the crowd, and she could just try to have fun and not worry about winning, that finally did it.

"I'll take you through the course right now, so you know what to expect. I'll get my own chariot, be back in a minute."

While Vittorio was gone, Laura tried to apologise again for monopolizing the chariot, and Poliwag, but Max and Bonnie were having none of it.

"I have to train for the contest, anyway," Bonnie pointed out.

"And I for my next gym battle. We'll be fine. Go with Vittorio! And Poliwag, you be nice to Laura, ok?"

"Poli!"

xxx

Once Laura and Vittorio were off, Bonnie and Max went back to the pokemon centre. Bonnie registered for the upcoming contest, and felt a few flutters in her stomach upon becoming an official contestant. The duo also registered Laura for the race, just in case their friend tried to back out of her agreement after the training session.

Then they went to the training area, which was already pretty active, as the centre was fully booked and many trainers were in town. Max immediately found a partner for a two-on-two battle, and was off in a blink, while Bonnie hesitated. She intuited that practicing her contest performance in such a crowded place was not the best idea but was unsure where to go.

"What do you mean, you don't have private training areas? That's outrageous!"

Startled by the shrill voice, Bonnie turned towards its source. A young girl, around her own age, was animatedly discussing with an harassed-looking Nurse Joy. Gleaming ribbons in her light-brown hair and a ruffled blue dress showed that she took great care of her appearance. She did not look happy.

"How am I supposed to practice my performance for the contest in these conditions?"

Her hair made a circular gesture, englobing the crowded arena and all the trainers within.

"We're not a very big centre and it's the first time that Alto Mare is hosting a contest," Nurse Joy replied. "So we don't have any specific facilities for contestants. But if you want a less crowded space I can have someone show you a few places in the south of the city where you should have some privacy…"

"And run the risk to have my performance discovered before the contest? I don't think so!" huffed the girl. "I'll go to the contest hall, I'm sure THEY at least will have an appropriate solution!"

And, turning her back to Nurse Joy without a thank you, the girl exited the arena with a flounce. Her exit would have been more stately, however, if she had not needed to dodge, without much success, a water jet from one of the battles, which managed to wet her dress and draw a most undignified squeak from her. After she was gone, Bonnie approached Nurse Joy, who had a sour expression on her usually smiling face.

"Nurse Joy, if you please…"

"Yes dear?" replied the red-haired nurse tiredly.

"I overheard your conversation with that girl, and you mentioned some training places in the south of the city?"

"Sure! I don't have time to show you myself, unfortunately. But Diana can take you there!"

The nurse motioned to one of the trainers in the room, a black-haired girl with startling green eyes and a friendly demeanor. The girl immediately agreed to accompany Bonnie. Upon questioning her, it turned out that she was a local girl, also interested in pokemon contests, and wildly excited that such an event was going to occur in her town.

"For the first time ever, and just when I decided to try my hand at contests, can you believe it?"

"It's great luck indeed!" Bonnie agreed with a big smile. "So, what do you know about the Alto Mare contest then?" she asked, seeing a perfect opportunity to learn more. "I just arrived in town today, so I haven't had any time to gather information yet, you see."

"Oh, it's going to be a pretty classic one, as far as everyone knows," Diana replied. "One pokemon for the xxx part, one for the battle part. You have to dress up, of course. Johto contests follow the Sinnoh tradition, mostly, you know, not like in Kanto or Hoenn."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that part!" Bonnie exclaimed with some dismay. "I don't have a pretty dress with me."

"Well, you'll have time to correct that before the contest, no worry. I can give you a good address if you want, that's where I got my own costume. They'll be closed tomorrow with the race, but you can go the day after."

"Thanks, you're being super helpful to a fellow competitor!"

"Hey, I want to win fair and square! I have a great team, my adversaries can try their best!"

Bonnie laughed.

"I like your spirit!"

"Well, there we are!"

The girls had been walking for some time through a residential neighbourhood, and Diana had just stopped in front of a small park, next to a little canal. It looked deserted.

"Nobody comes here much, you should have all the space and privacy you want to practice your routine!"

"That looks great, thanks a lot!"

"Oh, one last thing. I wouldn't tell just everyone, but I like you, Bonnie. There IS one special thing about the Alto Mare contest. Since we're an island city, water plays an important part in our life, so water is also going to be incorporated in the arena. Better be prepared…"

Bonnie thanked Diana for all her advice, and the black-haired girl departed for her own training grounds. Then she entered the park, woke up Dedenne, could had been sleeping in her pocket, and called up Litleo.

"Alright you two, there are only three days left until the contest. Time to practice! And Litleo, we'll need to change a few things…"

END OF CHAPTER

 _It's been way too long since the last update, I know, folks. Real life has been pretty intense, let's say. Anyway here is the next installment, and I'll try not to let you hanging for too long, with both the race and the contest looming on the horizon… I hope you enjoy this chapter in the meanwhile!_

 _P.S.: I discovered some great reviews in my absence, a thousand thanks, they mean a lot!_


End file.
